PRIME MINISTER

EU Constitution

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Prime Minister if he will undertake to hold a referendum in the UK on UK accession to the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union if the French vote no in their referendum.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary gave on 6 June 2005, Official Report, columns 991–92.

TRANSPORT

New Cars (Emissions)

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the average emission of a new car, in grammes of carbon dioxide per kilometre, has been in each year since 1985.

Stephen Ladyman: Data for the period 1985–94 is not available. Data for 1995 onwards, is shown in the table. The data for 1995 and 1996 comes from the European Commission, that for 1997 to 2002 from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Ltd (SMMT) and for 2003 and 2004 from UK Government data obtained by the DVLA.
	
		
			  Average new car CO2 (g/km) 
		
		
			 1995 191.7 
			 1996 190.4 
			 1997 189.8 
			 1998 188.4 
			 1999 185.0 
			 2000 181.0 
			 2001 177.6 
			 2002 174.2 
			 2003 172.7 
			 2004 171.4

UK Presidency (EU)

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what communication activities are planned in relation to the policy areas covered by his Department during the UK presidency of the EU; and what budget has been allocated for these activities.

Stephen Ladyman: External communications activity for the presidency is being co-ordinated centrally by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	We are currently finalising communication activities to take place around our presidency programme. We expect any costs to be met from within existing resources.

Public Transport

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passenger miles were travelled on (a) buses and (b) lightrail in each transport authority in England in each year since 1996.

Karen Buck: The data for London buses and for light rail systems are given in the table. Estimates of bus passenger miles are not collected for transport authorities outside London.
	
		Million passenger miles
		
			  1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Bus 
			 Greater London 2,584 2,703 2,681 2,752 2,926 3,186 3,563 3,996 
			 Light Rail 
			 Tyne and Wear 158 155 148 143 142 148 171 176 
			 South Yorkshire 18 21 22 23 24 24 25 26 
			 Nottingham UA(1) — — — — — — — 1 
			 Blackpool UA(2) — — — 8 8 9 9 7 
			 Gtr Manchester 53 55 73 78 95 100 104 105 
			 West Midlands(3) — — — 31 35 31 31 33 
			 Greater London 53 64 90 107 184 190 206 212 
		
	
	(1) Opened March 2004
	(2) Data unavailable before 1999
	(3) Opened May 1999

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Affordable Housing

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the provision of key worker housing and affordable homes.

Yvette Cooper: The Government wants to offer everyone the opportunity of a decent home at a price they can afford. Further details are laid out in "Homes for All", copies of which can be found in the Library of the House.
	Government funding, and innovative work with banks and building societies, will contribute to help as many as 110,000 first time buyers and key workers into affordable home ownership by 2010.

Affordable Housing

Mike Gapes: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on his plans to increase availability of affordable homes in Greater London.

Yvette Cooper: The Government have allocated nearly £1.5 billion on the provision of affordable housing in London through the Housing Corporation's Approved Development Programme in 2004–05 and 2005–06 to provide over 21,000 affordable homes.
	In addition English Partnerships is expected to deliver about 4,500 homes through the pilot phase of its London Wide Initiative over the next five years of which around 2,000 will be affordable homes for sale to key workers and first time buyers.

Affordable Housing

Andrew Selous: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the merits of turning unused space over shops into flats.

Yvette Cooper: This is a potentially useful source of additional housing units, which can also help in reviving town centre living. There are however a number of barriers preventing much of this potential from being realised, including the complex ownership patterns in high street property. We are considering a number of ways in which these barriers might be overcome, and we will announce how we intend to take this forward in due course.

Affordable Housing

Angela Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many social homes have achieved the decent homes standard; and whether he expects the Government to meet their target of ensuring that all homes meet the standard by 2010.

Yvette Cooper: Since 1997 we have reduced the number of social homes that do not meet the decent homes standard by over a million. Schemes that have been approved or are already under way are set to deliver further progress towards meeting the target to ensure all social homes meet the standard by 2010.

Affordable Housing

Andy Reed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much from (a) Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme funding and (b) Challenge Fund sources was spent on (i) mixed funding social rented housing, (ii) temporary social rented housing, (iii) Homebuy general market purchase, (iv) Homebuy general new build, (v) mixed funded low cost home ownership for sale, (vi) miscellaneous works to RSL stock, (vii) improvements to rented RSL stock, (viii) works only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (ix) works only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (x) intermediate rent for key workers, (xi) Homebuy market purchase for key workers, (xii) Homebuy new build for key workers and (xiii) mixed funded sale for key workers in the East Midlands region in each year since 1997–98.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows funding through the Housing Corporation approved development programme in the east midlands region for the categories (i) to (ix). The information in the table does not include all programmes that the ADP is used for and therefore does not represent the total funding for the east midlands region. Other categories with funding during the time period covered by the table are Right to Acquire, Voluntary Purchase Grant, Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership, and Temporary Intermediate and Market Rent Housing.
	The Key Worker Living programme is limited to London and the wider south-east, therefore there is no investment in categories (x) to (xiii) in the east midlands through this programme.
	The Challenge Fund was limited to London, south-east and eastern regions, therefore there is no Challenge Fund expenditure in the East Midlands.
	
		Expenditure for the East Midlands Region from 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			 £ million 
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 (i) Mixed funded Social Rent 20.34 18.79 21.36 23.63 25.31 31.61 40.14 48.07 
			 (ii) Temporary Social Housing 1.42 0.00 0.29 0.40 0.02 0.21 0.12 0.27 
			 (iii) Homebuy market purchase 0.00 0.00 0.47 1.01 1.43 1.05 2.31 3.30 
			 (iv) Homebuy New Build n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.00 
			 (v) Mixed-funded Low Cost Home Ownership 3.26 2.87 1.87 2.48 3.00 4.14 8.33 12.42 
			 (vi) Miscellaneous Works 4.33 1.35 2.83 3.39 3.26 2.02 1.05 0.37 
			 (vii) Re-improvements to rented RSL stock 0.00 0.00 0.71 0.85 0.75 0.23 0.21 0.01 
			 (viii) Works-only re-hab for rented RSL stock 0.00 0.00 0.13 0.08 0.23 0.03 0.54 0.41 
			 (ix) Works only re-hab of RSL stock for sale 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	Note:
	Categories (vii), (viii), and (ix) are included in Miscellaneous Works (vi) for years 1997–98 and 1998–99.

Affordable Housing

Andy Reed: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable housing units built or procured through (a) the Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme and (b) the Challenge Fund were classified as (i) mixed funding social rented housing, (ii) temporary social rented housing, (iii) Homebuy general market purchase, (iv) Homebuy general new build, (v) mixed funded low cost home ownership for sale, (vi) miscellaneous works to RSL stock, (vii) improvements to rented RSL stock, (viii) works only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (ix) works only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (x) intermediate rent for key workers, (xi) Homebuy market purchase for key workers, (xii) Homebuy new build for key workers and (xiii) mixed funded sale for key workers in the East Midlands region in each year since 1997–98.

Yvette Cooper: The following table shows completions through the Housing Corporation approved development programme in the east midlands region for the categories (i) to (ix). The information in the table does not include all programmes that the ADP is used for and therefore does not represent the total funding for the region. Other categories with completions during the time period covered by the table are Right to Acquire, Voluntary Purchase Grant, Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership, and Temporary Intermediate and Market Rent Housing.
	The Key Worker Living programme is limited to London and the wider south-east, therefore there is no investment in categories (x) to (xiii) in the east midlands through this programme.
	The Challenge Fund was limited to London, south-east and eastern regions, therefore there are no Challenge Fund completions recorded for east midlands.
	
		Completions in units for the East Midlands region from 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			 Year (units completed) 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 (i) Mixed funded social rent 1,489 1,723 1,385 1,222 1,225 1,000 1,030 1,116 
			 (ii) Temporary social housing 179 75 59 41 4 0 19 0 
			 (iii) Homebuy market purchase 0 0 34 70 88 63 108 124 
			 (iv) Homebuy new build n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 
			 (v) Mixed-funded low cost home ownership 451 293 341 191 230 158 282 432 
			 (vi) Miscellaneous works n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (vii) Re-improvements to rented RSL stock n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (viii) Works-only re-hab for rented RSL stock n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (ix) Works only re-hab of RSL stock for sale n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Note:
	Categories (vi) to (ix) do not have complete records of units.

Affordable Housing

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on Government plans to build 21,000 homes on green belt around Bournemouth.

Yvette Cooper: There are no Government plans to build 21,000 more homes on green belt around Bournemouth. The South West Regional Assembly—as the regional planning body—are working to prepare the new Regional Spatial Strategy for the South West which will look at housing need in the period to 2026. However, no proposed planned housing figures or locations for development have been made by either the Regional Assembly, the strategic planning authorities or the Government.

Affordable Housing

David Kidney: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many affordable housing units built or procured through the Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme and Challenge Fund were (a) mixed funded social rented housing, (b) temporary social rented housing, (c) homebuy general market purchase, (d) homebuy general new build, (e) mixed funded low cost home ownership for sale, (f) miscellaneous works to RSL stock, (g) reimprovements to rented RSL stock, (h) works only rehabilitation of rented RSL stock, (i) works only rehabilitation of RSL stock for sale, (j) intermediate rent for key workers, (k) homebuy market purchase for key workers, (l) homebuy new build for key workers and (m) mixed funded sale for key workers in the West Midlands Region in each year since 1997–98; and how much was spent on each category in each year.

Yvette Cooper: The following tables show completions and expenditure through the Housing Corporation Approved Development Programme, for categories from (a) to (i) . The information in the tables do not include all programmes that the ADP is used for and therefore does not represent the total funding for the West Midlands region. Other categories with funding during the time period covered by the table are Right to Acquire, Voluntary Purchase Grant, Starter Home Initiative, Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership, and Temporary Intermediate and Market Rent Housing.
	The Key Worker Living programme was limited to London and the wider South East, therefore there are no completions or investment in categories (j) to (m) in the West Midlands region through this programme.
	The Challenge Fund was limited to London, south-east and eastern regions, therefore there is no Challenge Fund expenditure in west midlands.
	Funding and completions are not directly comparable, as funding will relate to projects running, not necessarily units completed, in any one year.
	
		Completions in units for the West Midlands Region from 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			 Units completed 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 (a) Mixed funded Social Rent 2,213 2,022 2,189 1,816 1,496 2,184 1,474 1,430 
			 (b) Temporary Social Rented Housing 304 163 72 49 34 5 9 0 
			 (c) Homebuy market purchase 0 0 0 69 58 101 206 274 
			 (d) Homebuy New Build n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 
			 (e) Mixed-funded Low Cost Home Ownership 463 387 342 171 138 143 189 440 
			 (f) Miscellaneous Works n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (g) Re-improvements to rented RSL stock n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (h) Works-only re-hab for rented RSL stock n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 (i) Works only re-hab of RSL stock for sale n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
		
	
	Note:
	Categories (f) to (i) do not have complete records of units.
	
		Expenditure for the West Midlands Region from 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			 £ million 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 (a) Mixed funded Social Rent 36.38 36.59 37.93 44.36 50.37 55.55 71.48 77.63 
			 (b) Temporary Social Housing 1.88 0.00 0.89 0.57 0.51 0.14 0.20 0.00 
			 (c) Homebuy market purchase 0.00 0.00 0.69 1.18 1.21 2.34 5.25 8.39 
			 (d) Homebuy New Build n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 0.00 
			 (e) Mixed-funded Low Cost Home Ownership 6.60 4.04 2.50 2.07 1.31 2.89 6.75 13.73 
			 (f) Miscellaneous Works 5.31 2.49 0.64 1.22 0.75 0.62 0.52 0.28 
			 (g) Re-improvements to rented RSL stock 0.00 0.00 2.23 1.66 1.88 2.12 2.64 1.46 
			 (h) Works-only re-hab for rented RSL stock 0.00 0.00 0.15 0.03 0.29 0.37 0.93 0.28 
			 (i) Works only re-hab of RSL stock for sale 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
		
	
	Note:
	Categories (g), (h), and (i) are included in Miscellaneous Works (f) for years 1997–98 and 1998–99.

Council Tax

David Davies: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will abandon plans for council tax rebanding in England.

Phil Woolas: The terms of reference for the independent inquiry into local government funding by Sir Michael Lyons require him to make recommendations on how best to reform council tax. His report is due to be submitted by the end of this year to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The report will inform the Government's decisions on council tax bands.

Council Tax

Martin Salter: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reform the council tax system.

David Miliband: We look forward to the report of the independent inquiry by Sir Michael Lyons which is due to be submitted to my right hon. Friends the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer by the end of the year. In the meantime, we continue to receive many representations on a variety of local government finance issues.

Green Belt

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what green belt designations (a) are being and (b) have been reviewed by the Regional Chambers, since their establishment.

Yvette Cooper: Regional Planning Bodies take the lead in reviewing the need for, and broad extent of, green belt designations. Site specific boundary changes are a matter for Development Plan Documents within the context set by the Regional Spatial Strategy. The information in the following tables show those green belts, and particular areas of green belt, that have been, or are being, subject to a specific review as part of a review of the Regional Spatial Strategy.
	
		(a) Green belt designations that are being reviewed
		
			 Region Green belt Affected area of GB 
		
		
			 East Midlands Nottingham-Derby Nottingham-Derby 
			
			 East of England London South Essex 
			   Harlow 
			   Upper Lee Valley and  Bishop's Stortford 
			   Stevenage 
			
			 South West Bristol-Bath Bristol-Bath 
			  South East Dorset Bournemouth-Poole 
			  Cheltenham-Gloucester Cheltenham-Gloucester 
		
	
	
		(b) Green belt designations that have been reviewed
		
			 Region Green belt Affected area of GB 
		
		
			 North East Tyne and Wear North Sunderland 
			   Morpeth 
			
			 North West Greater Manchester and  Merseyside Merseyside 
			
			 East of England London Cambridge South Bedfordshire 
			   Cambridge

Local Authority Housing Stock

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many registered social landlords have taken over council housing; if he will list those which (a) have been put under supervision by the Housing Corporation, (b) have been the subject of mergers or takeovers and (c) have broken (i) rent guarantees and (ii) Housing Corporation rent guidelines.

Yvette Cooper: holding answer 6 June 2005
	Since 1988 204 registered social landlords have received housing from local authorities as part of the-large scale voluntary transfer programme. 183 of these were established solely for the purpose of receiving housing from a local authority.
	
		(a) Registered social landlords (RSLs) that have been established solely for the purpose of receiving housing from a local authority which have been in Housing Corporation supervision for a period of time since registration
		
			 Transfer date RSL name Date in supervision 
		
		
			 13 June 1990 Bedfordshire Pilgrims December 1994 
			 26 March 1996 Beechdale Community October 1997 
			 31 March 1998 Bentilee Community Local  Housing LHC June 2000 
			 6 April 1992 Broomleigh March 1999 
			 15 November 2000 Chester and District HA May 2003 
			 22 March 1999 Clapton Community Housing  Trust July 1999 
			 20 February 1996 Drum HAL (formerly East  Hampshire) April 2001 
			 22 September 1997 Eden HA December 1998 
			 3 October 1994 Evesham and Pershore March 2001 
			 9 March 1994 Hart August 2000 
			 31 January 1994 Hermitage October 2000 
			 29 January 1992 High Weald July 1995 
			 23 March 1998 Kerrier Home LHC December 1999 
			 25 January 1999 Leasowe Community Homes  LHC March 2000 
			 9 March 1998 Limehurst Village Trust August 1999 
			 27 May 1993 Magna October 1998 
			 27 July 1990 Medina January 2000 
			 13 February 2001 Mendip HA January 2004 
			 10 September 1990 Nucleus March 2004 
			 31 March 1994 Ridgehill March 1999 
			 13 February 2001 Riviera December 2002 
			 7 July 1997 SoHA Housing Ltd. (formerly  South Oxfordshire) March 1998 
			 23 March 1994 South Shropshire January 1994 
			 1 March 1999 South Somerset Homes June 2001 
			 30 July 1990 South Wight January 1997 
			 28 March 1990 Swale March 1991 
			 13 November 2003 Teign HA May 2005 
			 21 February 1996 Ten Sixty Six July 2000 
			 29 March 1989 West Kent October 1993 
			 4 April 1990 Wherry June 1998 
			 29 March 1999 Willow Park Housing Trust June 2000 
			 28 February 1991 Yorkshire Community Housing  Ltd. November 2000 
			 28 March 1991 Twynham July 2002 
			 31 March 2003 Walsall HT July 2003 
			 26 February 2002 Weaver Vale August 2004 
		
	
	(b) The following RSLs have been the subject of mergers or takeovers.
	Once associations have been registered with the Corporation they may set up group structures, join existing groups, transfer their engagements or be subsumed into other RSLs. Of those associations listed, the following have undertaken some group/merger activity:
	
		
			 RSL number Association name Status 
		
		
			 L3979 Broomleigh HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Downland Affinity Group Ltd. (LH4087) 
			 L4211 Clapton Community Housing Trust Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Guinness Trust (LH0036) 
			 LH4050 Evesham and Pershore HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Rooftop Housing Group Ltd. (L4404) 
			 LH4031 Hart HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Sentinel Housing Group Ltd. (LH4132) 
			 LH4030 Hermitage HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of the Parchment Housing Group (LH4131) 
			 LH3958 High Weald HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Town and Country Housing Group (L4251) 
			 L4159 Limehurst Village Trust Now a subsidiary of West Pennine HA (L0252) 
			 L3950 Magna HA Ltd. Established Non Asset Holding Parent—Magna HGL (LH4227) 
			 L4195 Leasowe Community Homes Local Housing Company Now a subsidiary of Arena Housing Association Ltd. (L1700) 
			 L3900 Medina HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Western Challenge Housing Group (LH4175) 
			 L4194 The Nucleus HG Ltd. Now a subsidiary of London and Quadrant Housing Trust (LH0015) 
			 LH4033 Ridgehill HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of William Sutton Housing Association Ltd. (LH4406) 
			 LH3898 South Wight HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Southern Housing Group Ltd. (LH3947) 
			 LH3888 Swale HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Amicus Group Ltd. (L4216) 
			 LH3866 Wherry HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Anglia Housing Group Ltd. (LH4046) 
			 L3886 Twynham HA Ltd. Now a subsidiary of Sovereign Housing Group Ltd. L4438 
		
	
	(c) Which RSLs have broken (i) rent guarantees and (ii) Housing Corporation rent guidelines.
	No RSL that has been established solely for the purpose of receiving housing from a local authority has broken rent commitments given to tenants at ballot. 12 have been granted exemptions from compliance with the Government rent restructuring guidelines which were introduced in April 2002. In all cases these are transfer organisations whose business plans assumed higher rates of increase after transfer than is now permitted under the Government guidelines. As tenants voted for transfer proposals that were based on the higher rents exemptions were agreed to ensure tenants received the works and services for which a commitment had been given.
	Local authority housing that has transferred to RSLs since the introduction of rent restructuring has been on the basis of business plans and valuations that comply with the current rent guidelines.

Local Strategic Partnerships

John Pugh: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what studies the Department has commissioned of the workings of local strategic partnerships.

Phil Woolas: In 2002 the Department commissioned a comprehensive Local Strategic Partnerships (LSP) evaluation and action learning programme, which will complete by the end of this year. Key components include: in-depth case study research, surveys of all LSPs every two years, and research based guidance on a range of topics highlighting good practice and advice.
	This research was jointly commissioned by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Department for Transport. Findings indicate that LSPs have made good progress since their recent establishment; however, there are areas for improvement to which the research has produced pragmatic support. Evidence from the research also directly informs evolving policy on community leadership.
	The Neighbourhood Renewal Unit has additionally commissioned a small number of neighbourhood-renewal specific studies to complement the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister-wide evaluation. One study summarised and analysed the Local Neighbourhood Renewal Strategies produced by the 88 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) areas. Another study summarised overall progress with LSPs in the 88 NRF areas, drawing mainly on existing evidence.

Public Toilets

John Hemming: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many public toilets there were on a given date in each year between 1990 and 2004, broken down by Government Office Region.

Phil Woolas: The provision and maintenance of toilets in public places is at the discretion of local authorities who have, under section 87 of the Public Health Act 1936, a power to provide public conveniences, but no duty to do so. For this reason, the information requested is not held centrally. The information in the following table has however been obtained from commercial and industrial property data held by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).
	
		Number of public conveniences: Government Office Regions, 2000–2004(4)—Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) analysis of provisional Valuation Office Agency data
		
			 Government Office Region 2000 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 North East 286 280 276 260 
			 North West 565 538 519 509 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 567 536 520 496 
			 East Midlands 439 418 411 399 
			 West Midlands 437 428 416 408 
			 East of England 578 574 561 560 
			 London 500 474 451 419 
			 South East 871 846 808 788 
			 South West 1,099 1,063 1,034 1,014 
			 England 5,342 5,157 4,996 4,853 
			 Wales 745 725 705 686 
			 England and Wales 6,087 5,882 5,701 5,539 
		
	
	(4) Data as at 1 October 2000, and 1 April for 2002, 2003 and 2004.
	The table gives the number of public conveniences as at 1 October 2000 and 1 April for 2002, 2003 and 2004. No data prior to 2000 and for 2001 are currently available. The statistics are provisional pending the release of revised VOA commercial and industrial property data on 30 June 2005.
	Totals given in the table show conveniences that are open to the public. They will include stand alone conveniences, and also those located in (for example) car parks and shopping malls.

Sustainable Communities

John Battle: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the Royal Institute of British Architects' proposals for Better Neighbourhoods—Designing for Sustainability; and if he will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is committed to delivering high quality, well-designed sustainable communities that can offer everyone a decent home that they can afford in a community in which they want to live and work, now and in the future. I welcome the continuing commitment of the Royal Institution of British Architects to this important agenda.
	The Government are committed to promoting sustainable forms of new development. Examples include:
	utilising public land to demonstrate best practice in sustainable design and construction techniques and mixed tenure through programmes such as English Partnerships' Millennium Communities programme;
	Planning Policy Statement 22, which advises on renewable energy, expects local planning authorities to devise policies that promote and encourage the development of renewable energy resources;
	Raising building energy performance standards through a review of Part L of the Building Regulations;
	developing the Code for Sustainable Buildings; and
	support to the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to provide Enabling advice to all of the 17 Building Schools for the Future Pathfinder and Wave 1 local education authorities.
	Decisions on taxation are a matter for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Travellers

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list planning permissions for Traveller sites that were refused by the local planning authority but were granted on appeal by the Secretary of State in each year since 2001.

Yvette Cooper: The list detailing all the planning appeals for Traveller sites decided between 1 January 2001 and 30 April 2005 has been made available in the Library of the House. The list is sorted by appeal decision date and shows who decided the appeal—either The Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the First Secretary of State my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister or the First Secretary of State my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister. During the period, 111 appeals were allowed and 230 appeals were dismissed.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Common Agricultural Policy

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the performance of the Rural Payments Agency in dealing with the common agricultural policy reforms, with particular reference to single farm payments.

Jim Knight: Ministers meet regularly with officials from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). RPA is part way through a major change programme which, since the reform of the common agricultural policy (CAP), has focused on the introduction and administration of the single payment scheme (SPS). The time scales for the implementation of the change programme were acknowledged to be stretching from the outset. Despite this challenge, RPA has made considerable progress with the introduction of the single payment scheme.
	By the 16 May closing date 115,196 applications to the SPS had been received, and I am satisfied that this covers not only applications from those previously in receipt of subsidy but has also brought additional land into the scheme thus contributing to the Department's sustainable agricultural and environmental objectives. The number of applications received is in line with RPA's projections for applicants to the new scheme.
	RPA has been working closely with the National Farmers Union and other industry representatives to ensure the successful launch of the SPS. This was a very large undertaking reflecting the scale of the reform of the CAP successfully negotiated by this Government, and included:
	the distribution of a series of policy booklets and three detailed guidance booklets;
	the provision of extensive information on the RPA website, resulting in approximately 6,000 hits per day at peak periods;
	a sustained media advertising campaign to existing customers and potential new applicants;
	undertaking, with Defra, 32 road shows across England attended by around 8,500 farmers;
	distribution of over 12,000 videos, CD-ROMs and DVDs with key excerpts of the road shows introducing and explaining the SPS; and
	the distribution of specimen forms to enable applicants to prepare the information required to apply for the scheme in advance of receiving the application form.
	The change programme is closely monitored through a joint RPA/Defra programme board which reports via the permanent secretary to Ministers. The programme makes use of regular external reviews, including the Office for Government Commerce Gateway Review process, who reported in their latest review of the programme in January 2005 that the review team finds that the programme is under strong leadership and has very visible ministerial and Defra support. They also considered that the programme continues to be managed in a professional manner and given stability in the programme scope, there is the desire and capability to deliver the programme successfully against challenging time scales.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the (i) Committee for the implementation of the Community framework for co-operation in the field of accidental or deliberate marine pollution, (ii) Committee for the implementation of legislation on ambient air quality assessment and management, (iii) Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates and (iv) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the directive on air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Committee for the implementation of the Community framework for cooperation in the field of accidental or deliberate marine pollution sits twice yearly. In relation to the specified presidencies, the committee sat as follows: (a) once during the Italian Presidency in September 2003; (b) once during the Irish Presidency in March 2004; (c) once during the Netherlands Presidency in September 2004. The UK expert attending each meeting was the Head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Counter Pollution and Response Branch.
	The Committee for the implementation of legislation on ambient air quality assessment and management did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch Presidencies.
	The Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the air quality limit values and guide values for sulphur dioxide and suspended particulates relates to part of Directive 80/779/EEC which was repealed with effect from 19 July 2001. This committee therefore did not meet during the periods in question.
	The Committee for the adaptation to technical progress of the directive on air quality standards for nitrogen dioxide relates to part of Directive 85/203/EEC which was repealed with effect from 19 July 2001. The committee therefore did not sit during these Presidencies.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the (i) Committee for the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors, (ii) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress and for the implementation of the directive on contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms and (iii) Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress and implementation of the directive on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Committee for the approximation of the laws of the member states relating to noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors falls within the responsibility of Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. This committee did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch Presidencies.
	The Health and Safety Executive have confirmed that the Committee for the adaptation to technical progress and for the implementation of the directive on contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms did not meet during the three Presidencies.
	Between June 2003 and December 2004, the periods in question, the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress and implementation of the directive on the deliberate release into the environment of genetically modified organisms met twice in the form of the Competent Authorities meetings on 3 December 2003 and 1 April 2004. Both meetings were held in Brussels and were attended by Defra policy officials. The purpose of the meetings was for member states to share experiences of operating the directive.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the (i) Committee for the implementation of the directive relating to the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars, (ii) Advisory Committee for the implementation of the directive on the limitation of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations and (iii) Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the directive on the prevention and reduction of the environmental pollution by asbestos met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Elliot Morley: The Committee for the implementation of the directive relating to the availability of consumer information on fuel economy and carbon dioxide emissions in respect of the marketing of new passenger cars did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch Presidencies.
	No meetings were held, during the periods in question, of the Advisory Committee for the implementation of the directive on the limitation of volatile organic compounds due to the use of organic solvents in certain activities and installations.
	As to the Committee for the adaptation to technical and scientific progress of the directive on the prevention and reduction of the environmental pollution by asbestos, I understand this committee did not meet during these Presidencies.

EU Committees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many times during the (a) Italian, (b) Irish and (c) Dutch Presidency of the EU the (i) Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress of the directive on a limit value for lead in the air, (ii) Advisory Committee for the implementation of the directive on the reduction of the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels and (iii) Committee for the adaptation to technical progress and the implementation of the directive on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations met; when and where these meetings took place; what UK Government expert was present; and if she will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Committee for the adaptation to scientific and technical progress of the directive on a limit value for lead in the air relates to part of Directive 82/884/EEC which was repealed with effect from 19 July 2001. This committee therefore did not meet during the Italian, Irish or Dutch Presidencies.
	The Advisory Committee for the implementation of the directive on the reduction of the sulphur content of certain liquid fuels did not meet during the periods in question.
	The Committee for the adaptation to technical progress and the implementation of the directive on the control of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions resulting from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations did not meet during these Presidencies.

Milk Price

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the average price paid by consumers for a litre of milk has been in each year since 1980.

Jim Knight: The average prices paid by consumers for pasteurised whole milk, collected by the Office for National Statistics, are shown in the table.
	
		Average retail milk prices
		
			  Pence per litre 
		
		
			 1980 30 
			 1981 33 
			 1982 35 
			 1983 37 
			 1984 38 
			 1985 40 
			 1986 42 
			 1987 44 
			 1988 46 
			 1989 49 
			 1990 54 
			 1991 56 
			 1992 60 
			 1993 60 
			 1994 63 
			 1995 63 
			 1996 63 
			 1997 62 
			 1998 60 
			 1999 60 
			 2000 60 
			 2001 65 
			 2002 63 
			 2003 65 
			 2004 62 
			 2005 (to May) 62 
		
	
	Source:
	Office for National Statistics RP20

TREASURY

Immigration

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who immigrated into the UK in each year between 1990 and 2004.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Mr. Frank Field, dated 8 June 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding estimates for the number of people migrating to the UK in each year between 1990 and 2004. (2581)
	The methodology used to make estimates of international migration to and from the UK has been improved in recent years. The new methodology has been used to produce revised estimates back to 1991. Therefore the estimate for 1990 would not be directly comparable with those for other years. For this reason, the attached table shows estimates for 1991 onwards. The most recent estimates are for 2003. Estimates for 2004 will be published in November 2005.
	These estimates are extracted from the annual reference volume "Series MN, International Migration". The most recent edition, "Series MN no.30, International migration, 2003", includes estimates for 1994 to 2003. Copies of this publication, and earlier editions, can be accessed at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=507. 
	
		Total International migration(5): 1991 to 2003 -- Thousand
		
			 United Kingdom Inflow(6)(immigration to the UK) 
		
		
			 1991 328.4 
			 1992 267.6 
			 1993 265.1 
			 1994 314.4 
			 1995 311.9 
			 1996 317.8 
			 1997 326.1 
			 1998 390.3 
			 1999 453.8 
			 2000 483.4 
			 2001 479.6 
			 2002 512.8 
			 2003 512.6 
		
	
	(5) Data for 1991–2003 are based mainly on data from the International Passenger Survey. Includes adjustments for (1) those whose intended length of stay changes so that their migrant status changes; (2) asylum seekers and their dependants not identified by the IPS; and (3) flows between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
	(6) These estimates are extracted from the annual reference volume Series MN, International Migration. The most recent edition, Serves MN no. 30, International migration, 2003, includes estimates for 1994 to 2003. Copies of this publication, and earlier editions, can be accessed at: http://www.Statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/Product.asp?vlnk=507

Manufacturing (London)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people were employed in manufacturing industry in (a) Brent East and (b) each London borough in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter from Len Cook to Ms Sarah Teather, dated 8 June 2005
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many people were employed in the manufacturing industry in Brent East Parliamentary Constituency and in each London borough. (2540)
	The attached table shows the number of employee jobs in manufacturing, in the requested areas, from 1997 to 2003. This is the latest year for which information is available. The data are published on the Office for National Statistics' Nomis website (http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/). Comparable figures for those local areas, including self-employed jobs are not available.
	
		Employee jobs in the manufacturing industry—1997 to 2003 -- Thousand
		
			  (7)1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Brent East Parliamentary Constituency 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 
			 London boroughs
			 Barking and Dagenham 15 16 16 12 10 9 9 
			 Barnet 5 5 6 5 4 4 4 
			 Bexley 8 9 10 9 9 8 7 
			 Brent 13 13 14 14 14 12 10 
			 Bromley 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 
			 Camden 15 13 14 14 14 13 13 
			 City of London 5 5 3 4 5 4 3 
			 Croydon 10 9 10 9 8 7 7 
			 Baling 13 14 14 13 12 11 11 
			 Enfield 11 11 11 11 10 9 8 
			 Greenwich 6 6 6 6 5 4 4 
			 Hackney 11 11 9 8 7 7 6 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 5 6 6 7 7 7 7 
			 Haringey 8 8 7 6 6 5 5 
			 Harrow 7 6 7 6 6 6 6 
			 Havering 7 7 6 7 5 5 5 
			 Hillingdon 12 13 13 13 12 11 9 
			 Hounslow 11 10 9 8 8 8 7 
			 Islington 12 11 11 11 11 9 10 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 
			 Kingston-upon-Thames 5 5 5 5 4 4 3 
			 Lambeth 5 5 5 4 4 3 3 
			 Lewisham 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 
			 Merton 9 9 10 10 9 8 6 
			 Newham 7 7 8 7 7 6 5 
			 Redbridge 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 4 5 5 5 5 4 4 
			 Southwark 12 12 13 13 12 11 11 
			 Sutton 5 4 5 5 5 4 4 
			 Tower Hamlets 15 16 19 16 16 15 14 
			 Waltham Forest 7 8 8 8 6 6 5 
			 Wandsworth 5 5 5 5 4 4 5 
			 Westminster 20 21 22 21 19 18 17 
		
	
	(7) Data is for December of each year.
	Source:
	Annual Business Inquiry, 1998–2003; Annual Employment Survey, 1997

Live8 Concert (VAT)

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received regarding the VAT liability of the proposed staging of the Live8 concert in Hyde Park; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Government have discussed VAT and other issues with Live8 and their advisers, and have already announced support with staging and clear-up costs for the Hyde Park event, worth some £500,000.

Private Finance Initiative

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the private finance initiative and public private partnership projects the Treasury is undertaking; and what the status is of each.

John Healey: The Treasury's only PFI project is for its office building at 1 Horse Guards Road. Details of the scheme are on the Treasury website http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/about/about_building/about_goggs_goggs.cfm.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

EU Legislation

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what EU legislation was implemented by (a) the Employment Relations Bill 1999, (b) the Working Time Regulations 1999, (c) the Fire Precautions (Workplace) (Amendment) Regulations 1999, (d) the Transnational Information Consultation of Employees Regulation 1999, (e) the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, (f) the Wireless Telegraphy (Licence Charges) (Amendment) Regulations 2000, (g) the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill: Parts 1 and 3, (h) the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001, (i) the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2001 and (j) the Undertakings on Supermarket Supplier Relations (Code of Practice).

Gerry Sutcliffe: This question requests details of the EU legislation giving rise to a number of pieces of UK legislation. The following table giving the reply, indicating the source of the legislation, approximately one third of which is purely domestic and was not instigated by the EU.
	
		
			 UK legislation Implemented by: 
		
		
			 Employment Relations Bill 1999 Council Directive 98/23/EC Part-Time Work Council 
			  Directive 96/34/EC Parental Leave 
			   
			 Working Time Regulations 1999 Council Directive 93/104/EC on aspects of the organisation of working time 
			   
			 Fire Precautions (Workplace)(Amendment) Regulations 1999 Council Directive 89/39/EC Safety and Health of Workers at Work 
			  Council Directive 89/654/EC Minimum Health and Safety Requirements for the workplace 
			   
			 Transnational Information Consultation of Employees Regulation 1999 Council Directive 97/74/EC on the establishment of a European Works Council 
			   
			 Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 Council Directive 98/23/EC Part-Time Work 
			   
			 Wireless Telegraphy (License Charges)(Amendment) Regulations 2000 Domestic legislation. However, compatible with Parliament and Council Directive 97/13/EC on common framework for general authorisations and individual licenses in the field of telecommunication services, now repealed by 2002/21/EC 
			   
			 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Bill: Parts 1 and 3 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Maternity and Paternal Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001 None. Amends and updates 1999 Regulations implementing Council Directive 97/75/EC which amends and extends Council Directive 96/34/EC on framework agreement on parental leave 
			   
			 Building (Amendment) Regulations 2001 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Undertakings on Supermarket Supplier Regulations (Code of Practice) Domestic legislation

EU Legislation

Ian Davidson: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what EU legislation was implemented by (a) the Industrial Training Levy (Construction Board) Order 2002, (b) the Employment Act 2002, (c) the Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002, (d) the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002, (e) the Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations 2002, (f) the Sale and Supply of Goods Consumer Regulations 2002, (g) the Additives for Use in Animal Nutrition (England) Regulations 2003, (h) the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2003, (i) the Building (Amendment) Regulations 2003, (j) the Employment Relations Bill and (k) the Consumer Credit Regulations 2004.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This question requests details of the EU legislation giving rise to a number of pieces of UK legislation. The following table, indicating the source of the legislation, approximately one third of the pieces of legislation listed were not instigated by the EU.
	
		
			 UK legislation Implemented 
		
		
			 Industrial Training Levy (Construction Board) Order 2002 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Employment Act 2002 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 Council Directive 76/769/EC (the Marketing and Use Directive) as amended by Council Directive 83/478/EC 
			  Council Directive 83/477/EC as amended by Council Directive 91/382/EC Council Directive 98/24/EC 
			   
			 Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Dangerous Substances and Explosives Atmospheres Regulations 2002 Council Directive 98/24/EC Chemical Agents Directive 
			  Council Directive 92/92/EC Explosives Atmospheres Directive 
			   
			 Sale and Supply of Goods Consumer Regulations 2002 Council Directive 99/44/EC on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees 
			   
			 Additives for use in animal nutrition (England) Regulations 2003 The enforcement of EC Regulation 1831/2003 on additives for use in animal nutrition will be provided by the Feeding Stuffs (England) Regulations 2005 
			   
			 Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2003 Council Directive 99/3 8/EC amending Council Directive 90/394/EC on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to carcinogens at work 
			 Building (Amendment) Regulations 2003 Domestic legislation 
			   
			 Employment Relations Bill Council Directive 2002/14/EC on Informing and Consulting Employees 
			   
			 Consumer Credit Regulations 2004 Domestic legislation

Miners' Compensation

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the accuracy of analyses prepared for his Department of the number of deceased mineworkers' damages claims for (a) Nottinghamshire, (b) Derbyshire and (c) Leicestershire; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: Regional statistics in respect of live and deceased claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease classify the claim according to postal town codes of the solicitor handling the claim.
	The Department is aware that the ratio of live to deceased cases in Notts/Derbys/Leics is well out of line with that of other regions. As at 31 March 2005 there were 23,002 live and 5,511 deceased claims registered and reflected in the regional statistics for Notts/Derbys/Leics—a ratio of 81 per cent. live to 19 per cent. deceased. The ratio for the other six regions ranged between 33 per cent. to 44 per cent. for live claims and 56 per cent. to 67 per cent. for deceased claims.
	In order to assess the reasons for this variance, the Department's claims handlers, Capita, ran a report by claimant post code where the postal town was for Notts/Derbys/Leics. This report was then matched against a second report in respect of deceased claimants registered under the scheme, where they were registered with a solicitor in one of the other six regions.
	This exercise confirmed that the 5,511 deceased claims registered against the Notts/Derbys/Leics postal town region was accurate. The exercise has also confirmed that there are an additional 26,500 deceased claims with Notts/Derbys/Leics post codes who are registered with a variety of solicitors spread among the other six regions.

Overseas Business Practices

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps the Government take to ensure that overseas operations by companies registered in the UK do not harm underprivileged people overseas; and what form of redress such people may seek if they believe that they have been harmed by such activities.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 25 May 2005
	UK companies that operate overseas are subject to the laws applicable in those countries which will take account of the particular circumstances and practices of each host country. We encourage companies to apply high standards of corporate behaviour by addressing their environmental and social impacts wherever they operate, including adhering to relevant internationally agreed norms and initiatives. In line with this, we promote the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises which recommend standards of responsible business conduct for business and have written to the FTSE 100 companies to raise awareness of these expectations. We have also set our approach to encouraging environmentally and socially responsible practice internationally in our international Strategic Framework on Corporate Social Responsibility published in March.

Sellafield

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action is being taken to (a) contain the radioactive leakage at the Sellafield site and (b) protect (i) the workers at the site and (ii) the environment.

Malcolm Wicks: I am advised by the independent regulator, the Health and Safety Executive, that following the recent leak of liquid inside the THORP facility at Sellafield, the plant remains in a safe and stable state. Safety monitoring has confirmed that there has been no release of material and there is not risk to employees, to the local community or to the environment.
	The material is contained within an engineered stainless lined totally enclosed cell designed to contain such leaks. Safety is the key priority and British Nuclear Group is working to recover the liquid in a safe and controlled manner. The regulators have been kept closely informed throughout.

Sellafield

Eddie McGrady: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the discovery on 19 April 2005 at the Sellafield site of the 20 tonne leakage of radioactive uranium and plutonium.

Malcolm Wicks: The recent leak of liquid inside the THORP facility at Sellafield has led to plant being closed while the situation is fully assessed. The plant is in a safe and stable state and there has been no release of material and there is no risk to employees, to the local community or to the environment. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority is considering the future of THORP; any proposals will be subject to scrutiny by the safety and environmental regulators.
	The Health and Safety Executive is carrying out an investigation and will make its findings public in due course.

Travel Industry Regulations

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has held with (a) the Association of British Travel Agents, (b) the Federation of Tour Operators and (c) the Association of Independent Tour Operators regarding steps to reduce the regulatory burden in the travel industry.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department is in regular contact with all of these organisations, and matters relating to the regulatory burden on the package travel industry are frequently discussed. Last year I also held two meetings with key stakeholders in this sector, including these three bodies, at which regulatory issues among others were discussed.
	Recent discussions have focused on the review by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), in conjunction with the Department for Transport, of the future of provision of financial protection for consumers against the bankruptcy of air travel providers; on CAA guidance on the scope of the Civil Aviation (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing) Regulations; and on the three organisations continuing compliance with the requirements for approved bodies under the Package Travel Regulations.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Crime and Disorder Act

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will seek to apply section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 to all statutory agencies.

Hazel Blears: Section 17 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 places a duty on specific agencies to consider the potential impact of all their decisions and activities on crime and disorder. The scope of section 17 was included in a wider review of the partnership provisions of the Act earlier this year. The review looked at how local agencies could better embed crime and disorder reduction into their core business. It also assessed whether section 17 currently covers the right agencies and bodies. I am considering the findings from the review and the Government will announce proposals for making partnership working more effective later in the year.

Identity Cards

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to (a) develop the launch of the national identity register of instructions to issue identity cards and (b) review the Police IT Organisation.

Andy Burnham: The Identity Cards programme development timescales allow for sufficient time to design, develop and implement a scheme with a thorough analysis and ongoing management of the risks. As the programme proceeds it will be subject to regular Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway reviews and have already been through a successful OGC Gateway Zero Review.
	The launch of the Identity Cards scheme will be supported by a communications campaign which will explain the purpose of the scheme and the practicalities. The proposed new Agency will also work with the verification service users to encourage them to communicate directly with their staff and customers to explain the scheme.
	The Review of the Police Information Technology Organisation has been completed and is currently being considered by Ministers.

DEFENCE

Armed Forces' Fighting Strength

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the fighting strength of the (a) British Army, (b) Royal Navy and (c) Royal Air Force has been in each year since 1992.

Don Touhig: The following table shows the full-time trained strength of UK armed forces at 1 April points since 1992, which includes trained UK regular forces, trained Gurkhas and FTRS (full-time reserve service) personnel. They do not include the Home Service battalions of the Royal Irish Regiment, mobilised reservists or Activated Reservists.
	
		
			  Naval Service(8) Army Royal Air Force 
		
		
			 1992 55,930 140,630 81,970 
			 1993 55,280 132,940 78,860 
			 1994 52,410 121,760 74,210 
			 1995 48,200 108,700 69,430 
			 1996 45,550 103,560 62,510 
			 1997 41,680 101,360 54,200 
			 1998 40,480 100,880 52,680 
			 1999(9) 39,320 99,900 51,910 
			 2000 38,880 100,330 51,210 
			 2001 38,540 (10)(11)(12)100,560 50,110 
			 2002 37,490 (11)(12)100,390 49,200 
			 2003 37,600 (11)(12)102,010 48,900 
			 2004 37,470 (11)(12)103,560 49,120 
			 2005 36,320 102,440 49,210 
		
	
	(8) Naval Service includes Royal Navy and Marines.
	(9) FTRS were created by the Reserve Forces Act 1996 and none existed before late 1997 and were formally recorded from late 1998 only.
	(10) 1 April 2001 Army FTRS Officer figures are not available, data are for 1 March 2001.
	(11) The Army Officer FTRS strength figures supplied to DASA between April 2001 and October 2004 are currently under review. Figures contained in this table have been supplied by the Army Personnel Centre and should be considered as provisional.
	(12) provisional
	Note:
	All figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. When rounding to the nearest 10, numbers ending in 5 have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to prevent systematic bias.

Gulf War Syndrome

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims in respect of Gulf War related illness have been (a) rejected and (b) accepted by the Veterans Agency office in Blackpool; and how many claims have been allowed the right of appeal.

Don Touhig: Our records indicate that as at 30 April 2005,1,477 claims have been accepted and 119 rejected in respect of Gulf War related illness. All decisions issued by the Veterans Agency carry a right of appeal.

HMS Turbulent

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the destination of HMS Turbulent following departure from Devonport was on 16 January 2004.

Adam Ingram: HMS Turbulent's destination was Rame Head, near Plymouth.

Joint Strike Fighter

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the deployment of the Joint Strike fighter aircraft in the RAF.

Adam Ingram: RAF Leeming, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Marham, RAF Lossiemouth and RAF St. Mawgan, are currently being considered as potential bases for the Joint Strike Fighter (the procurement solution to the Joint Combat Aircraft requirement). I expect to make a decision on basing later this year.

Life-expired Ordnance

Roger Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department has taken to ensure that the destruction of life-expired ordnance at Shoeburyness by QinetiQ will not detonate explosives contained within the SS Montgomery sunk in the Thames Estuary.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 6 June 2005
	The wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery is well outside all the Shoeburyness Range danger areas. No incidents of any nature have been reported as a result of the activities at Shoeburyness. The wreck is examined by diver and sonar survey on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on a regular basis.

Low-flying Aircraft (Wye Valley)

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low flying aircraft were used in the Wye Valley between Hay-on-Wye and Builth Wells from 27 May to 2 June.

Don Touhig: Information is only recorded in such a way as to enable us to provide data for the whole of Low Flying Area (LFA) 7, which covers almost all of Wales. The number of aircraft booked into LFA 7 over the period in question are shown in the table.
	
		
			  Aircraft 
		
		
			 Friday 27 May 56 
			 Tuesday 31 May 38 
			 Wednesday 1 June 6 
			 Thursday 2 June 7 
		
	
	The Low Flying System is closed at weekends, and was also closed on 30 May, as this was a bank holiday. At such periods, special permission from the Directorate of Air Staff is required for aircraft to operate in the low flying system. The only aircraft that are recorded as having operated in the system over this period were the Red Arrows, who flew through LFA 7 on both Saturday and Sunday; and the Dakota from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which operated on Sunday and Monday.

Military Exercise (English Channel)

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) UK and (b) other nations' vessels were involved in the Thursday war military exercise in the English Channel on 15 January 2004.

Adam Ingram: The only Royal Navy vessels involved in the Thursday war exercise on 15 January 2004 were HMS Cumberland, HMS Edinburgh and RFA Brambleleaf. No vessels of other nations were involved on that day.

Nuclear Weapons (Lakenheath)

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK nuclear weapons are available for use by the Government; and how many US tactical nuclear weapons there are at RAF Lakenheath.

John Reid: In line with the policy set out in the 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the United Kingdom maintains a stockpile of less than 200 operationally available Trident warheads, 48 of which are onboard the single submarine on deterrent patrol.
	On the issue of US nuclear weapons, NATO's Strategic Concept (paragraph 63) states that:
	"nuclear forces based in Europe and committed to NATO provide an essential political and military link between the European and North American members of the Alliance. The Alliance will therefore maintain adequate nuclear forces in Europe."
	Numbers of US nuclear weapons in the UK can and do vary, and the capability for deployments of such weapons to and from the UK remains extant regardless of the particular number of weapons in the UK at any given time.
	It is NATO and national policy not to comment on the detail of such nuclear deployments.

Panther Vehicle

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the difference is between the UK specification for the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle and the version commissioned by the Italian Army.

Adam Ingram: As a Command and Liaison Vehicle, Panther will provide protected mobility and, through the Bowman communications and information system, a sophisticated communications capability. Since the roles of the UK's Panther Vehicle and the Italian Light Multirole Tactical Vehicle are different, their specifications are also different; there will be differences in areas such as protection, situational awareness and communications.

Panther Vehicle

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the (a) design, (b) manufacture and (c) licence costs are of the Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle to (i) Iveco and (ii) other non-UK contractors.

Adam Ingram: The Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle contract with BAE Systems Land Systems (formally Alvis Vickers Ltd.) is £166 million for 401 vehicles. Further contracts are envisaged for the fitting of Bowman radios, and other systems, therefore the total value could reach £193 million. This price includes the design and manufacture of the vehicle. The licence cost paid to Iveco and to non-UK contractors is withheld given its confidential nature.

Prince Andrew

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions HRH Prince Andrew has used his Department's vehicles, vessels and planes for private use in (a) 2003 and (b) 2004; and at what cost.

Don Touhig: His Royal Highness the Duke of York has not made private use of the official transport facilities of the Ministry of Defence in 2003 or 2004.

Project Connaught

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much has been spent by his Department on Project Connaught; and how much was spent on the Aspire Consortium's involvement.

Don Touhig: Project Connaught started in the summer of 1999. The following year it combined with its Salisbury Plain counterpart, Project Allenby, to form Project Allenby/Connaught, since when cost records have been kept on a combined basis. As at the end of financial year 2004–05 total expenditure on the project was some £23.3 million, of which the cost of the Aldershot based project team was some £1.9 million.
	To date there has been no MOD expenditure on the Aspire consortium as we are still in negotiations.

Royal Irish Regiment

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Class 2 Royal Irish Regiment warrant officers (a) applied for and (b) took part in promotion boards in each of the past five years, broken down by (i) gender and (ii) religion; and how many of these applications were (A) successful and (B) rejected.

Don Touhig: The information requested in respect of gender is set out in the following table. All eligible candidates are considered by the promotion board.
	
		
			  Candidates eligible Appointed 
			  Total Male Female Male Female 
		
		
			 2000 35 35 (13)— 10 2 
			 2001 25 25 0 5 0 
			 2002 45 45 (13)— 6 1 
			 2003 35 35 (13)— 8 1 
			 2004 45 45 (13)— 9 1 
		
	
	(13) Fewer than five.
	Figures for candidates eligible have been rounded to the nearest multiple of five, in line with our normal practice for published statistics. As lists of successful candidates are published and the gender breakdown can be determined from the list, actual figures are given for those appointed.
	These figures do not include part-time Royal Irish, as this information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	A breakdown by religion is not held in a readily retrievable form and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

UK Presidency (EU)

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what communication activities are planned in relation to the policy areas covered by his Department during the UK Presidency of the EU; and what budget has been allocated for these activities.

John Reid: External communications activity for the EU Presidency is being coordinated centrally by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
	In contributing to this effort the MOD has drawn up a comprehensive communications strategy covering a range of media and communications activity to present European Security and Defence Policy to Parliament and the general public, including a feature in the mobile "Defence Tourer" exhibition and a contribution to the House of Commons Defence Committee conference at the Royal United Services Institute in November.
	There is no central departmental budget allocated for these activities. Costs lie where they fall across a number of directorates.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Licensing Act

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  if she will put back the second appointed day of the Licensing Act 2003 by at least eight months;
	(2)  if the Government will put back the deadline for licensees to submit a conversion licence application under the Licensing Act 2003 by at least six months;
	(3)  what assistance the Government will provide to help licensees meet the deadline for completion of conversion applications under the Licensing Act 2003;
	(4)  what steps the Government will take to enable licensees (a) to fulfil the requirements of the Licensing Act 2003 with regard to applications to convert premises and (b) to meet the deadline for applications of 6 August.

James Purnell: As I announced to the House on 8 June, the Government will shortly make an order confirming that 24 November will be the second appointed day. New licences and certificates will have effect from that date.
	The Government have no intention of extending the period for converting existing licences. Potential applicants and local authorities are aware of the timetable and it would be counter-productive to alter it at this late stage.
	We are aware that there are concerns over the low number of applicants so far. However, we believe that the deadline of 6 August 2005 allows applicants sufficient time to secure the conversion of their existing licences, should they apply for this. We have invested significant resources in making potential applicants, and other interested parties, aware of the timetable for implementation. Licensing authorities have also run road shows, surgeries and other events. The Government have also produced detailed guidance on our website, and have circulated a regular newsletter, Licensing Countdown, to keep the public and the industry fully informed of progress in implementing the 2003 Act.

Licensing Act

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what consultations her Department has undertaken with (a) the licensed trade and (b) local authorities since 7 February regarding the coming into force of the Licensing Act 2003;
	(2)  what recommendations the Government have implemented since 7 February in relation to the Licensing Act 2003 began following representations from the licensed trade and local authorities.

James Purnell: Since 7 February my officials have held regular meetings with a stakeholder advisory group which comprises representatives of the licensed trade, local authorities, the police, and magistrates, among others. The advisory group met on 16 February; 15 March; 19 April and 16 May. The bodies represented on the advisory group include:
	Alcohol Concern
	Arts Council England
	Association of Chief Police Officers
	Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
	Association of London Government
	Bar Entertainment and Dance Association
	British Beer and Pub Association
	British Hospitality and Restaurant Association
	British Institute of Innkeeping
	British Marine Federation
	British Retail Consortium
	Business in Sport and Leisure
	Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
	Cinema Exhibitors Association
	Committee of Registered Clubs Association
	Editor of Paterson's Licensing Acts
	Federation of Licensed Victuallers Association
	Guild of Master Victuallers
	Justices' Clerks Society
	Licensed Victuallers of Wales
	Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)
	Local Government Association
	The Magistrates' Association
	Musicians Union
	I also chair a high level group to ensure the smooth running of the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003. The high level group met on 22 March; 4 May; and 23 May. It comprises representatives of:
	Department for Culture, Media and Sport
	Home Office
	Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
	Association of Chief Police Officers
	British Beer and Pub Association
	Bar Entertainment and Dance Association
	British Retail Consortium
	Central Council for Physical Recreation
	Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)
	Local Government Association
	Tourism Alliance
	Since 7 February, the DCMS has been engaged in targeted communications activity to encourage at-risk groups to make their applications as quickly as possible. We have recently re-doubled these efforts. We are also issuing guidance for applicants to help address some of the common mistakes which stakeholders inform us are being made on application forms and there will also be a revamp of the licensing pages on the DCMS website (www.culture.gov.uk) to make them more accessible for applicants. In addition, we have responded to requests from stakeholders seeking help on a number of issues including embedded restrictions; whether a personal licence holder must be at a premises at all times; and how transferred licences should be dealt with during the transitional period. The DCMS position on these matters has been circulated widely through the stakeholder groups and has helped ease the transitional process for both licensing authorities and applicants.

Private Finance Projects

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will list the private finance initiative and public private partnership projects her Department is undertaking; and what the status of each is.

Richard Caborn: My Department is not itself undertaking any PFI or PPP contracts. The Department's executive agency, the Royal Parks (TRP), has entered into the following:
	Inn the Park at St. James Park. This is a contract to provide new catering equipment and facilities at an existing site in return for the right to run a catering concession.
	The Boathouse at Regent's Park. Under this contract a new building was supplied by the contractor, and a catering concession was granted to them.
	Pembroke Lodge at Richmond. The building was restored by the contractor and a catering concession was granted to them.
	All three are now operational.

Tote

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations her Department has made to the EU Commission on the sale of the Tote.

Richard Caborn: The Government first notified their plans for the sale of the Tote to a racing trust to the European Commission on 27 May 2004, and provided additional information to the Commission on 9 September 2004 and 15 March 2005. I met Commissioner Kroes on 27 May to explain our proposals in person.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Legal Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will take steps to ensure that the quality of (a) civil aid service and (b) criminal aid service available to local communities is not reduced as a result of the Legal Services Commission's proposals to introduce price competitive tendering to the legal aid system.

Bridget Prentice: Both the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) and the Legal Service Commission (LSC) are confident that proposals to introduce price competitive tendering (PCT) will not adversely impact on the existing provisions of legal aid service to local communities as a whole. By using peer review as a measure of the quality of service provided to clients, the LSC will be asked to monitor the impact of the new arrangements, and where necessary, to respond to any concerns that may arise.

Local Government Elections

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs 
	(1)  what the estimated cost was to public funds of administering the local elections in 2005;
	(2)  what estimate the Government have made of the cost to public funds of postal voting in the local elections in (a) 2003, (b) 2004 and (c) 2005.

Harriet Harman: This information is not collected centrally.

Travellers

Oliver Heald: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the provision of legal advice services to Travellers funded by the Department.

Bridget Prentice: The eligibility criteria for Gypsies and Travellers for civil legal aid are the same as for other individuals. The Legal Services Commission aims to ensure that all socially excluded groups including Gypsies and Travellers are able to access the legal advice for which they are eligible. To this end the Commission provides funding for a national helpline for Gypsies and Travellers for legal advice on housing matters and a pilot scheme to facilitate information and advice services for Gypsies and Travellers in Cambridgeshire on matters of social welfare law. The provision of early legal advice can lead to more timely and cost-effective resolution of disputes.

HEALTH

Chiropody

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  which primary care trusts have introduced simple and routine chiropody services through measures other than by a registered podiatrist or chiropodist; and how many NHS patients have received chiropody treatment through measures other than by a registered podiatrist or chiropodist in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the provision of simple and routine NHS chiropody services by primary care trusts other than by a registered podiatrist or chiropodist; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  what mechanisms have been put in place to assess the provision of simple and routine chiropody services by primary care trusts other than by a specialist podiatrist or chiropodist; and if she will make a statement;
	(4)  what definition of simple and routine services she uses in relation to chiropody services; and if she will list NHS chiropody treatments which are included within the definition.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not collected centrally. Access to chiropody and podiatry services is a matter for primary care trusts.

Commission for Social Care Inspection

Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes there have been to fees charged by the Commission for Social Care Inspection since 1997; what representations she has received on charges; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The current fee structure for regulated social care providers has been in place since 1 April 2002. The National Care Standards Commission was the regulator until 1 April 2004 when it was succeeded by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. The fee structure has remained broadly the same during that period except for the introduction of fees for services being regulated for the first time. The fees were increased by 20 per cent. across the board with effect from 1 April 2003, 1 April 2004 and again from 1 April 2005.
	The changes to the fee structure were consulted on in 2001. Some 165 responses were received. On each occasion the fees are increased, ministers receive some representations.
	However, we have made special concessions for small care homes, adult placements, small domiciliary care agencies, and small nurse agencies. We have lowered the annual fee for small care homes and adult placements (£173 instead of £259), for small domiciliary care agencies (£540 instead of £1,080), and for small nurses' agencies (£360 instead of £720).

Continuing Care

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her estimate is of the cost in England of providing (a) free personal care and (b) free long-term care in each year until 2015.

Liam Byrne: In England, the Government have accepted each of the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Long Term Care except the recommendation to provide free personal care in all settings.
	People who are eligible for national health service continuing care and those whose assets fall below the lower threshold used in the residential care means test automatically receive free personal care.
	Making personal care free for everyone carries a very substantial and increasing cost, but would not raise the standard or range of services available. The estimated cost for 2003–04 is £1.5 billion.
	The estimated costs for future years are shown in the table using 2003–04 constant prices. The projections take account of demographic change, in terms of numbers of older people by age, gender, household type and housing tenure. They assume that cost of care will rise by 2 per cent. per year in real terms, in line with average earnings. As with any projections, the figures should only be taken as broad estimates of the cost because of the uncertainty of projecting over such a long time scale.
	Research conducted by personal social services research unit and the university of Leicester, for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, suggest that free personal and nursing care would increase United Kingdom public spending on long-term care for older people to £42.6 billion in 2051 (1.45 per cent. of gross domestic product (GDP)) as opposed to £35.4 billion (1.20 per cent. of GDP) under the current funding system (without free personal care). These projections are at constant 2000 prices.
	
		Estimated costs of free personal care—England. Constant 2003–04 prices
		
			  £ billion 
		
		
			 2003 1.5 
			 2004 1.6 
			 2005 1.7 
			 2006 1.8 
			 2007 1.9 
			 2008 2.0 
			 2009 2.0 
			 2010 2.1 
			 2011 2.2 
			 2012 2.3 
			 2013 2.4 
			 2014 2.5 
			 2015 2.6 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health analysis using projections supplied by personal social services research unit.
	We have not made projections of the costs of making long-term care free.

General Practitioners

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many single-handed general practitioners practices there were in England in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The information requested can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/workforcestatistics

GP Appointments

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the 48 hour access targets for general practitioners on availability of pre-booked routine appointments; what plans she has to revise those targets; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: Latest monitoring data for April 2005 shows that about 1.5 per cent. of patients do not have the opportunity to book advance appointments. This is not acceptable practice and the Department is continuing to work with strategic health authorities to get primary care trusts to tackle the issue locally and ensure practices offer patients flexible as well as fast access.

High Dependency Care

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what percentage of the overall national budget for NHS hospitals the total annual cost for patients in intensive care and patients in high dependency care represent;
	(2)  what is the daily cost per NHS high dependency bed

Liam Byrne: The cost of intensive and high dependency care is not separately identified from the annual financial returns of national health service providers.

High Dependency Care

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many high dependency beds there were in England and Wales in the most recent year for which there are records;
	(2)  how many intensive care beds there were in England in the most recent year for which records are held.

Liam Byrne: As of 13 January 2005, there were 1,426 high dependency beds and 1,787 intensive care beds in England. Further data is available on the Department's website at: www.performance.dh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/index.htm. It is for the Welsh Assembly to provide the appropriate information for Wales.

Infertility Treatment

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have benefited from infertility treatment in (a) Brent and (b) each primary care trust in England in each year since 1997.

Caroline Flint: Information about the number of patients receiving national health service infertility treatment is not collected centrally.

Mental Health Services

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she plans to provide further investment in specialist old age mental health services in accordance with section 2.2.8 of Better Health in Old Age, November 2004.

Liam Byrne: Decisions on how funding is allocated locally for health services are the responsibility of local service planners, commissioners and providers, which can do so taking full account of local service patterns and priorities.

NHS (IT Programme)

Ian Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for the development of the IT programme in the national health service; and when she expects it to be completed.

Liam Byrne: Through the national programme for information technology (NPfTT), the NHS Connecting for Health agency of the Department is delivering systems to change the way the national health service delivers care, and the experience of patients. It is a key component of delivering a modern and patient-centred NHS. NPfTT is being implemented by national application service providers, responsible for purchasing and integrating IT systems common to all users nationally; and by local service providers, responsible for supplying and integrating services and systems to perform functions in the local setting and to link to the national system.
	A great many systems and services have already been put in place, including hospital-wide patient administration systems as well as many service-specific systems, in areas such as pathology, accident and emergency, maternity and mental health. For example, the programme has delivered a quality management and analysis system, providing general practitioners with evidence and feedback on the quality of care they deliver, to 8,300 GP practices covering over 20,000 registered users. Single assessment process technology is already streamlining the way personal details and care information for older people are gathered, stored and shared, so that people need only give their information once and can be certain that it will be shared appropriately by all those professionals involved in their care.
	We are currently seeing a considerable acceleration in the deployment of technology across the NHS. Some patients are able to book their hospital appointments electronically. The first electronic prescriptions were issued in February 2005, with numbers set to rise significantly over the coming months. The first NPfTT—delivered picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) went live earlier this year. Around 5,500 GP sites, and 1,500 secondary care sites—some 7000 in total—have already been connected to the new national network (N3), giving fast and reliable broadband access to over 350,000 users. Almost 25,000 clinicians are now registered users of the national care record data 'spine', almost 3,500 of them general practitioners. Over 124,000 users are now registered with Contact, the secure email and directory service for the NHS.
	Delivery of new software to support payment by results is on schedule to be implemented in June 2005, and a secondary uses service that will hold anonymised and pseudonymised patient information for research, trend analysis and public health monitoring is being created. In addition, a 'Map of Medicine' software package that gives every clinician access to the overall bank of NHS clinical knowledge at the click of a button has been developed and will be incorporated into systems upgrades.
	Altogether, we estimate that something over one and a half million patients have already received improved and safer care as a result of these and other NPfIT development, a figure which is increasing every week.
	This represents encouraging progress towards a target of full integration of health and social care systems in England by 2010.
	More detailed information about the national programme and future planned developments can be found on the NHS Connecting for Health website at: www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk

Perinatal Mortality

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she plans to establish targets for primary care trusts on improvements in perinatal mortality.

Liam Byrne: There is an existing target on reducing inequalities in infant mortality. It aims at reducing the differences in infant mortality rates between children from different socio-economic groups. We have no plans to add further national targets in this area.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Brazil

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the needs of indigenous peoples in Brazil are not compromised by the destruction of tropical rainforests.

Gareth Thomas: The UK has committed £16 million to the £186 million multi-donor Pilot Programme for the Preservation of Brazilian Rain Forests. Part of DFID's support is provided through a trust fund managed by the World Bank and part as directly managed projects.
	Through the trust fund, the UK has supported the Integrated Project for Protection of Indigenous Peoples and Lands of Legal Amazonia (PPTAL). This project, which started in 1996, helps to validate and register lands claimed by indigenous peoples through physical demarcation within the rain forest so that they can be used and protected by indigenous communities. So far a total of 35 million hectares have been demarcated (the size of the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands).
	In addition, DFID supports the Indigenous Peoples Demonstration Projects, another component of the multilateral Pilot Programme for the Preservation of the Brazilian Rain Forests, in partnership with the Ministry of Environment. This programme supports activities that aim at strengthening indigenous peoples' organisations throughout Amazonia to negotiate for and manage better services for their communities. Specifically the programme provides funds and technical assistance to help preserve indigenous cultures, protect indigenous lands against encroachment from outsiders, and provide opportunities for economic development. Indigenous leaders are being trained and supported to promote their rights and entitlements to basic services, and to develop a network among themselves that can strengthen social cohesion in Amazon communities. The programme, also supported by German financial and technical assistance, helps to facilitate these new relationships with central and local governments.

Brazil

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the level of HIV/AIDS in Brazil.

Gareth Thomas: Brazil has reduced the rate of HIV infections since 1997 and there has been a relative stabilisation of the epidemic has been observed. Current estimates indicate that about 650,000 people in the 15–49 age group of the population are infected. HIV/AIDS is prevalent in all regions of the country but has spread beyond groups at particular risk such as men who have sex with men and injecting drug users. Heterosexual transmission is now responsible for a growing share of HIV infections, with women increasingly affected. Data indicate that risk increases with illiteracy, low levels of education, and poor environments such as urban slums. Although national HIV prevalence among pregnant women has remained stable at below 1 per cent. for the past five years, considerably higher levels—up to 6 per cent.—have been found in some states.
	The role of injecting drug use in Brazil's epidemic remains significant. In some areas, drug users constitute at least half of the AIDS cases reported by state Ministries of Health. Harm reduction programmes have been associated with a steep drop in HIV prevalence among injecting drug users in recent years—by 40 per cent. in some cities such as Salvador in the poorer north of the country. In the south of the country, however, rates remain high suggesting that prevention programmes need to continue to target injecting drug users.
	The Brazil national AIDS programme has recently stepped up its drive to identify and treat other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), particularly neo-natal syphilis, which will have an important impact in the poorest parts of the country. Brazil's media make a strong contribution to prevention programmes and the recent policy decision to refuse US$24 million of funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) because of conditions attached that would preclude effective working among sex workers demonstrates that Brazil is committed to making universal access achievable.
	Progress in containing the epidemic can be attributed to strong policy implementation by the National AIDS Programme and the Ministry of Health in the following ways: Brazil provides universal access to Anti-Retroviral Vaccines (ARVs) that are free of charge; the national AIDS programme supports well-designed and targeted information, education and communication programmes to help prevent infection and support people living with AIDS; there is wide and informed involvement of civil society and faith-based groups; and there is a strong focus on sexual health especially for young people.
	Brazil is sharing its expertise (and in some cases ARVs free of charge) with other countries in Latin America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Portuguese-speaking African countries through technical co-operation funded by the Brazilian Government with support from donors such as DFID.

Brazil

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to minimise loss of tropical rainforest in Brazil.

Gareth Thomas: DFID is one of a number of UK Government Departments that has supported efforts to reduce deforestation of the Brazilian tropical rain forests.
	DFID has committed £16 million to the £186 million multi-donor Pilot Programme for the Preservation of Brazilian Rain Forests (PPG7). Through this, DFID has been actively involved in the preparation of a proposal for a law on the management of public forests. If approved and implemented, this law is expected to reduce deforestation significantly.
	The one on-going DFID PPG7 project is the Indigenous Peoples Demonstration Project which is enhancing the capacity of indigenous peoples' organisations throughout Amazonia to preserve indigenous cultures, protect indigenous lands against encroachment from outsiders, and to identify and generate opportunities for economic development for a total community of 250,000 indigenous peoples.
	DFID has just completed a number of other projects to support the efforts of the Brazilian Government to reduce deforestation of tropical rainforest. These included the testing of new ways to involve local people in managing natural resources and the environment; support for the assessment of the impact that managing the forest has on the genetic diversity of tree species; and helping Brazilian institutes of higher education include subjects that are more relevant to working with poor people whose lives depend on sustainable forests.
	DFID is also contributing through multilateral organisations—in particular, by its contribution to the European Commission's Asia Latin America programme which supports projects in the Amazon; and its membership of the World Bank which, for example, approved a $0.5 billion loan last year to promote environmental sustainability in Brazil. DFID is a major contributor to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that is creating and maintaining protected areas in the Amazon through the Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme (ARPA).
	DFID also provides support to civil society organisations involved in forest management in Brazil. DFID's commitment of £800,000 a year for 2005–06 and 2007–08 to the World Wildlife Fund under a Partnership Programme Agreement for Latin America and Caribbean will enhance their work in Brazil.
	Future DFID support for efforts to combat deforestation will be through our contributions to multilateral organisations working in the region. Further details of DFID's future role in the region are set out in the document entitled "Regional Assistance Plan for Latin America 2004–2007". I have arranged for copies of this document to be placed in both Libraries of House.

Departmental costs

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the costs of the administration of his Department's offices overseas in the last year for which figures are available.

Gareth Thomas: The administration costs for DFID offices overseas are as follows:
	
		
			 £000 
			  2004–05 2005–06 plans 
		
		
			 Africa 45,236 50,600 
			 Asia 31,733 32,400 
			 Europe Middle East Americas inc. Iraq 27,414 24,400 
			 UK representation in Rome and Paris 1,076 1,120 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. These figures include costs for London and Scotland based staff.
	2. Figures for 2004–05 are subject to final outturn
	These figures equate to 2 per cent. of the total programme for 2005–06, compared with DFID's ratio of 5 per cent. for total administration to programme allocation.
	The administration expenditure plans are consistent with the commitments DFID made in the spending review; increasing growth in Africa and Asia in line with programme expansion and graduating a number of middle-income countries, based in Europe and the Americas, out of bilateral aid programmes thereby releasing more resources in line with DFID's commitment to spend 90 per cent. of it's bilateral programme in low income countries (LICs).
	DFID is committed to reducing administration costs over the spending review period in line with the efficiency review recommendations, by focusing on reducing office support costs and improving delivery.

EU (Trade)

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many developing countries trade with the EU.

Gareth Thomas: The EU trades with developing countries under a range of trade arrangements which offer preferential access to its markets. The most comprehensive of these is the Generalised System of Preferences, which covers some 179 countries and overseas/territories. In 2001, the last year for which data are published, the total exports to the EU from these countries was €361 billion.

India

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Indian Government regarding AIDS in India; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: On my last visit to India in October 2004, 1 met both the Minister of State for Health and the Head of the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). We discussed how best the Department for International Development's assistance to the National AIDS Control Programme could be used and subsequently agreed to extend our support into the highly vulnerable states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Secretary of State also raised the question of domestic funding to the country's HIV/AIDS programme with the Indian Finance Minister when he visited India in December 2004 and was pleased to note an overall increase.
	India has an estimated 5.13 million people living with HIV, second only to South Africa in numbers, although prevalence is low, at 0.92 per cent. The epidemic is concentrated in six high prevalence states (Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Nagaland) and is overwhelmingly sexually transmitted.
	In India, the Department for International Development supports the Government of India's National AIDS Control Programme with £123 million over seven years to March 2007. DFID's support consists of Financial Aid through the Government for Targeted Interventions with high risk groups in eight focus states: Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and most recently Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Targeted interventions are specifically designed to reach out to these hard to reach vulnerable groups where the prevalence of disease is highest (sex workers, men having sex with men, injecting drug users etc.) with innovative programmes to contain the spread of the disease.
	DFID also provides a package of Technical Cooperation which funds, among other things, a Sexual Health Resource Centre, mass media campaigns by the BBC World Service Trust and condom promotion strategies in the focus states. Funding also goes to the UNAIDS country office.
	Last year, DFID India carried out a review of its support to the Government of India's National AIDS Control Programme to ensure that our support could be re-aligned with the current state of the epidemic in India and with new DFID policy, taking account of the UK HIV and AIDS Strategy "Taking Action" which I launched in India during my visit.

UK Presidency (EU)

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what communication activities are planned in relation to the policy areas covered by his Department during the UK Presidency of the EU; and what budget has been allocated for these activities.

Hilary Benn: DFID has lead responsibility for one Presidency priority, development with a focus on Africa. A number of communication activities have been planned during the Presidency to provide information on work in this area. Those organised by DFID will include a low-key Presidency launch reception at DFID on 30 June, a short information leaflet and activities related to the Development Informal in Leeds on 24–25 October and a World Aids Day event in London on 1 December.
	DFID's communication plans for the Presidency, including these events, have been discussed and agreed centrally with Cabinet Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Planning for these events is on-going so a precise figure for communication activities is not yet available.

Zimbabwe

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the World Food Programme ahead of the visit to Zimbabwe by its Director.

Hilary Benn: DFID officials were in close contact with the World Food Programme (WFP) in Rome, in Harare and with the Regional WFP office in Johannesburg before, during and following the recent visit to the region by James Morris. We expressed concern about what appears likely to become a serious humanitarian situation following recent crop failure in Zimbabwe and have emphasised the need to elicit a clear indication from the Government of Zimbabwe about their need for international assistance, and on what scale. While the political relations between the UK and Zimbabwe governments remain difficult, this would not affect our willingness to provide emergency relief to those in need of humanitarian assistance in Zimbabwe, as long as we are able to do so effectively.
	DFID is also assisting the UN to respond to the appalling programme of "urban cleansing" that the Government of Zimbabwe has implemented in recent weeks. They have set up a multi-agency team to provide emergency humanitarian assistance for the estimated 200,000 made homeless, and have strongly condemned the violation of human rights.

Zimbabwe

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what criteria need to be met by the Government of Zimbabwe before the Government will accept a request for assistance with food aid to Zimbabwe.

Hilary Benn: The Government of Zimbabwe has not asked for international assistance in responding to the recent crop failure. Indeed, President Mugabe has declared that Zimbabwe will import not only 1.2 million metric tonnes (MT) of grain for humanitarian distribution; it will also import 600,000 MT of grain to rebuild the country's strategic reserve. Such imports would more than meet Zimbabwe's food needs. If this situation were to change, the UK would consider a request for humanitarian assistance on the same basis as in other parts of the world—on the basis of humanitarian need, and our ability to provide relief which would reach effectively those in need, without political interference. DFID has been able to do this successfully in Zimbabwe over several years since the on-going humanitarian crisis began in 2001 and would envisage any future UK assistance being provided under the same arrangements.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Common Agricultural Policy

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the 250 largest payments made through the Common Agricultural Policy to farms or enterprises in Northern Ireland for 2003–04, broken down by (a) recipients and (b) amounts received.

Angela Smith: It has been decided that information should be released on all recipients of agricultural subsidy payments under the Common Agricultural Policy in Northern Ireland. This information is currently in preparation and will be made available on 21 June 2005 on the website of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development at www.dardni.gov.uk. The information will be presented on the same basis as that released by the Rural Payments Agency in England on 22 March 2005, and will enable the largest recipients to be identified.

Dementia

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what specific training is provided to doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals in treating and caring for those with dementia.

Shaun Woodward: Primarily, training in treating and caring for patients with dementia is incorporated into the curricula of undergraduate degree studies for doctors, allied health professions (AHPs) and student nurses studying in the mental health, adult and learning disability training programmes. In addition, there is postgraduate specialised training in dementia care available for nurses, AHPs and other healthcare professionals. It is also addressed in the postgraduate training curriculum for doctors.

Forestry Division

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) terms of reference and (b) work programme of the Forestry Division in Northern Ireland are.

Angela Smith: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) The Forestry Division was renamed the Forest Service in 1975 and became an Executive Agency of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in 1998. Its terms of reference, as stated in its Framework Document, are to deliver the government's policy in forestry through a programme of afforestation, sustainable management of existing forests, production and supply of timber, provision of public recreation and education, and protection and enhancement of the environmental value of forests.
	(b) I refer the hon. Gentleman to a written ministerial statement which I made to the House today which contains the Ministerial Key Targets of the Forest Service for 2005–06. Copies of the Agency's Business Plan for the year have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Forestry Division

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the budget for forest parks in Northern Ireland is in 2005–06, broken down by main budget head; and what staffing costs are estimated to be in 2005–06.

Angela Smith: The budget for the seven Forest Parks is not disaggregated from the total recreation budget for all 109 forests. The total 2005–06 recreation budget and the estimated share of the Forest Parks are shown in the following table by main budget head. It is estimated that income of £655,000 will off-set the total budget shown.
	
		
			   £ 
			  Total recreation budget Forest parks budget (estimated) 
		
		
			 Staff costs 779,903 616,531 
			 Materials 65,596 52,390 
			 Local overheads 228,642 183,625 
			 Central overheads 157,478 133,617 
			 Other operating costs 256,401 215,878 
			 Total 1,488,020 1,202,041

Gun Crime

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland of all the recorded gun crime in Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, how many offences were carried out using (a) legally and (b) illegally held firearms; and if he will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: The Chief Constable advises that the PSNI's records as held do not differentiate between legally held and illegally held firearms used in the commission of offences.
	The following table shows the numbers of offences involving the use of firearms and recorded by offence type for each of the years 2001–02 to 2004–05 inclusive.
	
		Offences recorded, involving the use of firearms, by offence type, in each of the years shown
		
			 Offence type 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Class 1: Offences against the person 402 383 307 283 
			 Murder/attempted murder 72 99 29 48 
			 Threat or conspiracy to murder 28 18 18 13 
			 Wounding with intent/GBH with intent 112 118 120 74 
			 Wounding/GBH 39 22 14 18 
			 AOABH/aggravated assault/common assault 66 44 65 66 
			 Intimidation 40 46 42 40 
			 Firearms offences endangering life 43 35 19 24 
			 Other offences against the person 2 1 0 0 
			  
			 Class 2: Sexual offences 2 0 0 0 
			  
			 Class 3: Burglary 10 14 10 13 
			  
			 Class 4: Robbery 609 679 484 325 
			 Business robbery 494 564 384 259 
			 Personal robbery 77 66 62 47 
			 Hijacking 38 49 38 19 
			  
			 Class 5: Theft 0 0 1 1 
			  
			 Class 6: Fraud and forgery 0 0 0 0 
			  
			 Class 7: Criminal damage 136 86 191 236 
			  
			 Class 8: Offences against the state 22 24 12 35 
			 Firearms offences 19 20 11 35 
			 Other offences against the state 3 4 1 0 
			  
			 Class 9: Other notifiable offences 12 6 7 7 
			  
			 Total offences 1,193 1,192 1,012 900 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. These figures relate to offences where a firearm was involved in the incident—it is not known how the firearm was actually used.
	2. Included within the firearm category are handguns, shotguns, rifles, air guns and imitation firearms.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, PSNI

Gun Crime

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) injuries and (b) fatalities associated with air guns have occurred in each district police command area in each year since their formation; and what prosecutions have occurred as a result.

Shaun Woodward: The Chief Constable advises that the PSNI does not hold the information in the form requested. However, he has provided three separate statistical tables (covering the years 2001–02 to 2004–05 inclusive) which show (a) offences involving air guns recorded by district police command units; (b) violent offences involving air guns recorded by district police command unit; and (c) offences involving air guns cleared by the police.
	
		(A) Offences recorded by the police where an air gun was involved in the incident(14)—Overall crime
		
			 District Command Unit 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Antrim 3 3 5 8 
			 Ards 7 12 16 16 
			 Armagh 0 2 0 2 
			 Banbridge 2 1 1 5 
			 East Belfast 12 4 10 11 
			 North Belfast 4 3 7 12 
			 South Belfast 1 5 3 1 
			 West Belfast 8 3 42 21 
			 Ballymena 10 2 1 2 
			 Ballymoney 1 0 0 1 
			 Carrickfergus 9 2 18 19 
			 Coleraine 2 3 8 18 
			 Cookstown 1 0 3 1 
			 Craigavon 10 3 6 31 
			 Castlereagh 18 4 5 2 
			 Dungannon and South  Tyrone 1 1 4 1 
			 Down 4 1 7 14 
			 Fermanagh 2 2 0 1 
			 Foyle 1 0 1 13 
			 Larne 10 0 4 19 
			 Limavady 1 1 9 16 
			 Lisburn 10 5 1 5 
			 Magherafelt 2 1 0 3 
			 Moyle 0 0 1 1 
			 Newtownabbey 2 12 17 26 
			 North Down 5 3 5 10 
			 Newry and Mourne 14 11 6 13 
			 Omagh 2 3 3 9 
			 Strabane 0 3 3 2 
			  
			 Northern Ireland 142 90 186 283 
		
	
	(14) These figures relate to offences where an air gun was involved in the incident—it is not known how the air gun was actually used.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, PSNI.
	
		(B) Offences recorded by the police where an air gun was involved in the incident(15)—Violent crime (offences against the person, sexual offences and robbery)
		
			 District Command Unit 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Antrim 2 2 2 4 
			 Ards 2 0 4 3 
			 Armagh 0 0 0 1 
			 Banbridge 0 0 0 0 
			 East Belfast 2 1 1 5 
			 North Belfast 0 3 1 4 
			 South Belfast 1 1 0 1 
			 West Belfast 3 1 3 0 
			 Ballymena 3 0 0 1 
			 Ballymoney 0 0 0 1 
			 Carrickfergus 3 1 1 3 
			 Coleraine 1 0 2 4 
			 Cookstown 1 0 1 1 
			 Craigavon 1 2 3 9 
			 Castlereagh 3 2 2 1 
			 Dungannon and South  Tyrone 0 1 0 0 
			 Down 1 1 3 1 
			 Fermanagh 1 2 0 0 
			 Foyle 0 0 0 3 
			 Larne 2 0 1 4 
			 Limavady 0 0 1 2 
			 Lisburn 3 2 1 1 
			 Magherafelt 0 0 0 2 
			 Moyle 0 0 1 0 
			 Newtownabbey 0 2 5 4 
			 North Down 1 1 0 3 
			 Newry and Mourne 4 2 1 2 
			 Omagh 1 2 1 2 
			 Strabane 0 0 0 1 
			  
			 Northern Ireland 35 26 34 63 
		
	
	(15) These figures relate to offences where an air gun was involved in the incident—it is not known how the air gun was actually used.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, PSNI.
	
		(C) Offences cleared by the police where an air gun was involved in the incident(16)—Overall crime by method of clearance
		
			 District Command Unit 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Charge/summons 5 1 7 8 
			 Adult caution/informed warning 2 3 1 2 
			 Juvenile restorative caution/informed warning 4 4 4 10 
			 Offender under age 0 1 1 7 
			 Complainant declined to prosecute 12 7 12 22 
			 DCU commander/DPP/PPS direct no prosecution 3 1 1 6 
			 Otherwise disposed of 0 0 0 1 
			 Total 26 17 26 56 
		
	
	(16) These figures relate to offences where an air gun was involved in the incident—it is not known how the air gun was actually used.
	Note:
	Of the 701 crimes recorded during the last four years, 125 have been cleared.
	Source:
	Central Statistics Unit, PSNI

Incapacity Benefit

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the average length of time taken to process appeals against a decision of non-entitlement to incapacity benefit was in the last year for which figures are available.

David Hanson: In the 2004–05 financial year, the average time taken to process an appeal (i.e. from receipt of appeal by the Social Security Agency to the date the decision is released to the claimant) was 23 weeks.

Pensioner Bonus

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the £200 bonus to pensioners to assist with payment of the council tax will be made available to pensioners in Northern Ireland to assist with the payment of local rate bills.

David Hanson: This year the Government are making a one-off tax free, lump sum payment of £200 to all eligible households with someone aged 65 or over towards council tax bills. As Northern Ireland does not have council tax, the payment is intended to provide extra help with rates.

Pre-school Education Advisory Group

Sammy Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many Pre-School Education Advisory Group places were allocated to (a) Killeeshill playgroup, (b) Gallally playgroup, (c) An Tearmann playgroup and (d) Little Acorns playgroup in the Southern Education and Library Board area in (i) 2003–04 and (ii) 2004–05.

Angela Smith: The number of places allocated to the groups for the 2003–04 and 2004–05 academic years were:
	
		
			  2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Panda Cross Community Playgroup, Killeeshill  Community Centre, Dungannon 16 20 
			 Paddington Playgroup, Gallally, Dungannon 19 22 
			 An Tearmann Early Years Project, Coalisland,  Dungannon 9 11 
			 Little Acorns Playgroup, Laghey Primary School,  Dungannon 10 10 
		
	
	At the end of the admissions process the Southern Education and Library Board's Pre-School Education Advisory Group (PEAG) recovered places from undersubscribed groups and re-allocated them to groups who had been over-subscribed with application for funded places.
	As a result of this exercise the actual number of funded pre-school places which the groups were in receipt of in September 2003 and September 2004 was as follows:
	
		
			  September 
			  2003 2004 
		
		
			 Panda Cross Community Playgroup, Killeeshill  Community Centre, Dungannon 29 28 
			 Paddington Playgroup, Gallally, Dungannon, 24 24 
			 An Tearmann Early Years Project, Coalisland,  Dungannon 6 12 
			 Little Acorns Playgroup, Laghey Primary School,  Dungannon 16 9

Royal Ulster Constabulary

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people (a) retired from and (b) were medically retired from the then Royal Ulster Constabulary in 2001; what the (i) average age and (ii) average length of service of those retirees was; and if he will list the equivalent figures so far for 2005 from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Shaun Woodward: The following tables set out the information requested by the hon. Lady:
	
		Leaver data: Royal Ulster Constabulary 2001
		
			  Number 
			 RUC Regular:  
		
		
			 Medical retirements 135 
			 Voluntary severance 1022 
			 Other reasons 25 
			 Total retirees 1182 
			   
			 Average age 51.9 
			 Average service 28.3 
			   
			 RUC Full-time Reserve  
			 Medical retirements 38 
			 Voluntary severance 129 
			 Other reasons 49 
			 Total retirees 316 
			   
			 Average age 48.9 
			 Average service 17.6 
		
	
	
		Leaver data: Police Service of Northern Ireland 2005 to date
		
			  Number 
			 PSNI Regular:  
		
		
			 Medical retirements 19 
			 Voluntary severance 133 
			 Other reasons 22 
			 Total retirees 174 
			   
			 Average age 48.3 
			 Average service 24.5 
			   
			 PSNI Full-time Reserve  
			 Medical retirements 31 
			 Voluntary severance 12 
			 Other reasons (17)123 
			 Total retirees 166 
			   
			 Average age 48.9 
			 Average service 17.8 
		
	
	(17) This figure includes 105 Officers who left under the Full Time Reserve Severance Scheme, which was introduced on 1 April 2005.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he will answer the letter to him dated 3 March 2005 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mrs. Z. Khanum.

Kim Howells: I refer my right. hon. Friend to the reply I gave him on 24 May 2005, Official Report, column 65W.
	The Foreign Secretary replied to my right hon. Friend's letter with regard to Mrs. Z. Khanum on 14 March 2005.

Egypt

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received from his Department's officials on changes to the constitution in Egypt requiring potential candidates for the presidency to be supported by 300 elected officials from both Houses of Parliament and local councils; what representations have been made by his Department to the Egyptian Government on the matter; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: We welcomed President Mubarak's proposal on 28 February 2005 for a change to the Egyptian constitution, with the stated aim of enabling direct election of the President from multiple candidates. On 10 May 2005, the People's Assembly voted in favour of the amendment, as did the Egyptian people in a referendum on 25 May 2005.
	In future elections, after 2005, legal political parties may nominate a member of their central committee as a presidential candidate. The nominating party must have been in existence for at least five years; the party nominee must have held the same position on the board for at least one year; and the party must hold at least 5 per cent. of the seats in both the People's Assembly and the Shura Council. Independent candidates who are not members of legal political parties must have the support of at least 250 elected members of the People's Assembly, Shura Council and local councils.
	The UK, through our embassy in Cairo, works closely with the Egyptians to promote political reform. Through the development of the EU neighbourhood policy, we are encouraging a greater focus on supporting democracy, governance and human rights in Egypt.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent killing of internally-displaced people in the Soba Aradi camp in Khartoum; and what measures are being taken by (a) the Government and (b) international agencies to (i) protect the human rights of internally-displaced people in Khartoum and (ii) prevent their forcible relocation.

Ian Pearson: I refer my hon. Friend to the replies I gave him on 6 June 2005, Official Report, column 238W and 7 June 2005, Official Report, column 384W.

Zimbabwe

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the Government of Zimbabwe concerning the recent arrests of street traders in (a) Harare and (b) other Zimbabwean cities; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when his officials were first informed of the recent arrests of street traders in (a) Harare and (b) other Zimbabwean cities; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what discussions he has held with his European Union partners concerning the recent arrests of street traders in (a) Harare and (b) other Zimbabwean cities; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  if he will make representations to the Zimbabwean Government on operation drive out rubbish; and if he will make a statement;
	(5)  if he will make representations to the South African Government on operation drive out rubbish in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement;
	(6)  if he will hold discussions with his European Union partners on operation drive out rubbish in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement;
	(7)  what discussions he has held with African countries on operation drive out rubbish in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement;
	(8)  when his officials were first informed of (a) operation drive out rubbish and (b) other attempts by the Zimbabwean Government to demolish homes which it deemed unauthorised;
	(9)  if he will make representations to the Government of South Africa concerning the recent arrests of street traders in (a) Harare and (b) other Zimbabwean cities; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: We have been following closely and with concern developments since operation drive out rubbish began recently, including informal sector housing and traders. We condemn the wholesale and callous destruction of people's homes and livelihoods caused by the security forces in urban areas across Zimbabwe as part of a "clean up" campaign. The Government of Zimbabwe's own figures indicate that nearly 23,000 people have been arrested since the operation began and many thousands rendered homeless. This has inflicted even greater hardship and suffering on the innocent and needy who are being punished for the regime's failed policies.
	Department for International Development funds are being used in provision of immediate assistance to affected households who do not have the capacity to absorb the shock themselves (particularly children and the chronically ill). We are pressing the UN to take a lead in assessing the extent and impact of the regime's operation, and the scope for international assistance to those who are in immediate humanitarian need.
	We understand that the UN's world food programme Director, James Morris, raised the issue with Mugabe on 1 June.
	We regularly press the Government of Zimbabwe on our human rights concerns, of which this is only the latest example. We also maintain a dialogue with key African states on Zimbabwe focusing on key developments of concern such as this. We are also discussing a response with our EU partners.

Zimbabwe

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Zimbabwe on land reform in Zimbabwe; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: We have consistently said that we would support a land reform programme that was transparent, fair and legal and that was carried out within a wider Zimbabwean Government programme to reduce poverty. The United Nations development programme agrees that the Government of Zimbabwe's fast track programme is inconsistent with these principles. Concerns about land seizures are just one of the areas of concern we raise regularly with the Government of Zimbabwe, both bilaterally and with our international partners.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Disability Benefits

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many drug addicts in Bassetlaw are receiving incapacity benefit.

Anne McGuire: As at November 2004, there were 200 incapacity benefit and severe disability allowance claimants in Bassetlaw, whose primary diagnosis was recorded as drug abuse.
	We want to make sure that everyone in society has the opportunity to enter into employment including drug misusers. The Progress2work (p2w) initiative which helps recovering drugs misusers into work has now been rolled out across Jobcentre Plus. Progress2work help includes specialist support to help people through mainstream programmes and provision for intensive measures to help those overcoming very serious problems.

Disability Benefits

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people who have made claims for incapacity benefit are receiving credits towards their pension entitlement and not cash; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: As at November 2004, there were 929,400 incapacity benefit claimants receiving national insurance credits only. However, 787,100 of these received income support. Some of the remaining 142,300 will also be in receipt of other, non income-related, benefits.

Disability Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people had been claiming incapacity or invalidity benefit for (a) up to one year, (b) one to two years, (c) two to three years, (d) three to four years, (e) four to five years, (f) five to 10 years, (g) 10 to 15 years and (h) 15 years and over in each of the last 30 years.

Anne McGuire: No information is available prior to 1982. The most recent available information is for 2002. The available information is in the following table.
	
		Invalidity benefit (IVB) and incapacity benefit (IB) recipients by duration of claim in Great Britain for years shown
		
			 thousand 
			 Year ending All durations Up to one year One to two years Two to three years Three to four years Four to five years Five to 10 years 10 to 15 years 15 years and over 
		
		
			 Invalidity benefit  
			 29 May 1982 683.5 26.7 126.5 86.9 72.6 60.1 150.7 41.7 33.2 
			 2 April 1983 736.9 117.6 135.0 101.3 72.9 65.9 163.9 45.8 34.5 
			 31 March 1984 797.4 116.0 146.5 113.2 87.6 63.0 187.9 48.0 35.2 
			 30 March 1985(18) 849.3 185.2 130.9 109.5 89.4 (18)113.5 (18)135.7 (18)85.1 (18)n/a 
			 5 April 1986(19) 899.4 (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a (19)n/a 
			 4 April 1987 968.0 131.3 154.1 116.1 106.5 94.2 249.9 74.0 41.9 
			 2 April 1988 1,047.5 148.6 150.3 131.4 102.9 98.1 283.4 88.3 44.5 
			 1 April 1989 1,126.1 154.0 168.5 130.8 118.6 92.9 314.0 99.0 48.3 
			 31 March 1990 1,209.4 162.0 173.3 146.8 1.19.7 108.7 337.4 106.5 55.0 
			 30 March 1991 1,306.3 167.5 189.5 150.2 136.3 112.8 367.1 122.5 60.4 
			 4 April 1992 1,439.1 199.1 204.4 170.2 140.3 130.2 389.2 137.6 68.1 
			 3 April 1993 1,580.3 202.7 246.5 184.9 161.3 132.4 423.8 153.1 75.6 
			 2 April 1994 1,681.3 291.6 236.3 195.7 153.9 143.8 432.1 151.1 76.8 
			 12 April 1995 1,767.2 283.5 241.8 207.3 184.0 141.8 462.8 164.8 81.2 
			   
			 Incapacity benefit  
			 31 March 1996(20) 1,761.7 141.5 230.4 (20)n/a (20)n/a (21)602.9 501.2 186.7 99.0 
			 31 March 1997 1,667.4 155.0 169.6 194.0 176.4 330.3 355.9 182.3 103.9 
			 31 March 1998 1,614.8 149.4 181.3 141.1 169.4 313.8 368.3 187.1 104.4 
			 31 March 1999 1,512.4 127.5 155.9 148.4 121.7 286.2 387.6 177.0 108.1 
			 31 March 2000 1,416.7 121.2 135.7 127.9 129.5 236.8 380.7 175.9 109.0 
			 31 March 2001 1,471.6 147.4 153.8 128.2 115.5 214.7 399.7 194.5 117.8 
			 31 March 2002 1,454.1 142.3 153.7 126.2 110.2 206.3 368.8 220.4 126.2 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are shown in thousands and rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Some historical tables have slightly different duration lengths:
	(18) For period ending 30 March 1985, the figure shown in the column 'four to five years' is actually for the duration of four to six years. The figure in the 'five to 10 years' column is actually for six to 10 years. Also the figure for '10 to 15 years' is that for 10 years and over.
	(19) A breakdown of the figures for period ending 5 April 1986 is not available.
	(20) For period ending 31 March 1996, the figure shown in the column 'four to five years' is actually for the duration of two to five years.
	(21) Invalidity benefit was replaced by incapacity benefit in April 1995.
	3. Figures marked with "n/a" are not available.
	Source:
	Information Directorate, 1 per cent. Samples.

Financial Assistance Scheme

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations he has received regarding the eligibility of pension schemes which were wound up after May 2004 and before April 2005 for the Financial Assistance Scheme, broken down by scheme; and what response he made to the representations.

Stephen Timms: We have received a number of representations over the last year about pension schemes that started to wind up between May 2004 and April 2005. A separate breakdown of the representations about individual schemes is not available. In the light of the representations we announced in November 2004 that, provided they meet the other eligibility criteria, members of pension schemes with insolvent employers that started to wind up between those dates would receive help from the scheme.

Local Housing Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average rent was in each of the local reference rent localities within the local housing allowance pilot areas in each month in the last two years.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available in the format requested. The available information is in the table.
	
		Average rent for those in receipt of the local housing allowance by Pathfinder local authority
		
			 £ 
			  Quarter ending 
			  August 2004 November 2004 February 2005 
		
		
			 Blackpool n/a 90 90 
			 Brighton and Hove 120 121 122 
			 Conwy 78 78 79 
			 Coventry 85 86 87 
			 Edinburgh 101 102 103 
			 Leeds n/a 81 81 
			 Lewisham 127 135 137 
			 North East Lincolnshire n/a n/a 75 
			 Teignbridge 90 93 92 
		
	
	n/a = Not available
	Notes:
	1. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1.
	2. Data are not available for some local authorities for some quarters due to concerns about data quality.
	Source:
	Local Authority Management Information data.

Local Housing Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average length of time taken to process housing benefit applications in the local housing allowance pilot areas has been; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The Pathfinder local authorities (LAs) are subject to a comprehensive, robust evaluation programme which will include an assessment of the impact of local housing allowance (LHA) on processing times.
	Although it is too early to draw firm conclusions regarding the impact of LHA on processing times, early indications from Pathfinder LAs and local stakeholders is that processing times are reducing.

Mobility Cars

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether publicly-funded mobility cars may be provided for people over the age of 65 years; and if he will make a statement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 6 June 2005
	Severely disabled people who claimed and qualified for the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance before reaching age 65 may continue to receive it after that age if they continue to meet the conditions of entitlement. If they choose to do so, they can use it to obtain a vehicle through the Motability scheme. Disability living allowance is focused on providing extra financial help to people who are severely disabled early, or relatively early, in life and as a result may have less opportunity to work and save. It is not available to people who become disabled after reaching age 65. However, attendance allowance provides them with well targeted help with their disability-related extra costs and helps maintain their independence. It is a tax-free, non-contributory benefit which is not income-related and is currently worth up to £60.60 per week. It is part of the wide range of help that the Government makes available to older people.

Pensions

Greg Pope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people (a) started claiming the state retirement pension, (b) were refused full state pension entitlement because they claimed the pension outside the time limit, (c) appealed against the decision to refuse them full state pension because they had claimed the pension outside the time limits and (d) were successful in their appeals in each year since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The number of claimants wishing to claim state pension from a date earlier than the statutory period of three months is not routinely collected. Information on the number of people appealing against the disallowance of a late claim is not available. The scope for a successful appeal is limited, given that the prescribed time for claiming is absolute. Under current legislation the time limit cannot be extended on the grounds of, for instance, good cause.
	The Government have however introduced legislation which is extending the prescribed time for claiming state pension from three months to 12 months. The change is being introduced gradually over the course of this financial year so that, by April 2006, pensioners will be able to have their state pension entitlement—other than any
	increase for an adult dependant—backdated for a full 12 months if they so wish.
	A person who delays claiming their state pension, deliberately or otherwise, is treated as having deferred their entitlement. As a result, they could be eligible for a higher weekly pension when they do finally claim. Alternatively, if they delay their entitlement for at least 12 months from April 2005 they will have the option of a one-off taxable lump sum payment, based on deferred pension plus interest, instead of a pension
	increase.

Pensions

Janet Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will bring forward further measures to restore pensions lost through scheme wind-ups.

Stephen Timms: The Government have introduced a number of measures that directly address the reduction in pension that individuals can face when their scheme winds-up with insufficient funds. The Government have:
	Introduced the Financial Assistance Scheme which will help those most seriously affected by pension scheme failures before the PPF was established;
	Introduced the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) which is an historic step forward in protecting scheme members. It will, for the first time, pay compensation to members of eligible defined benefit and hybrid occupational pension schemes when there is a qualifying insolvency event in relation to the employer and where there are insufficient assets in the pension scheme to cover PPF levels of compensation;
	Introduced a new statutory priority order when the PPF started up for business on 6 April 2005. The new priority order applies to schemes which commence winding up on or after that date. It ensures that members of schemes wound up due to employer insolvency, with sufficient funds to meet more than the benefits guaranteed by the PPF, do not find themselves in a worse position than if the scheme had less funds and was covered by the PPF; and
	Introduced legislation that increases the debt on the employer to the 'full buy-out' level, as we believe that wherever possible employers should ensure that there are sufficient funds in schemes which are winding up to meet the full costs of the rights accrued by scheme members.
	It is also important to take action before schemes reach this point. The Government have established the Pensions Regulator (the Regulator) which replaced the Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) on 6 April 2005. The Regulator will take a proactive and risk-based approach to regulation and, in addition to the powers inherited from Opra, will have a range of new and increased powers to protect members of work-based pension schemes. The Regulator will concentrate its resources where there is the greatest risk to the security of members' benefits.
	The Government fully understands, and shares the concerns of those people whose pensions are affected when their scheme is wound up. The measures we have introduced ensure that trustees and employers have clear obligations and incentives to protect members' benefits. The Government will continue to review the situation.

Pensioners Living Abroad

Andrew Robathan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will set up a review of the policy of paying state pensions to UK citizens living abroad in some countries and not to others; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: We have no plans to do so.

Pensioner Poverty

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners were living in (a) absolute and (b) relative poverty in each year since 1979–80; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The sixth annual 'Opportunity for all' report (Cm 6239) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of measures.
	There is no fully consistent time series using a single data source for the number of pensioners below absolute low income thresholds since 1979.
	The following table gives the number of pensioners living in relative low income since 1979 and the number in absolute low income against the standard 1996–97 baseline from 1996–97 onwards. Absolute low income is defined as below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median income held constant in real terms and relative low income is defined as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income.
	
		
			  Income below 60 per cent. of 1996–97 median income held constant in real terms Income below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income 
			  Housing costs Housing costs 
			  After Before After Before 
		
		
			 Family Expenditure Survey (UK )(22) 
			 1979 — — 2.6 2.5 
			 1981 — — 1.9 1.5 
			 1987 — — 2.7 2.4 
			 1988–89 — — 3.8 3.3 
			 1990–91 — — 3.6 3.3 
			 1991–92 — — 3.3 2.9 
			 1992–93 — — 3.0 2.5 
			 1993–94 — — 2.8 2.2 
			  
			 Family Resources Survey (GB)1 
			 1994–95 3.1 2.5 2.7 2.1 
			 1995–96 3.1 2.5 2.8 2.2 
			 1996–97 2.8 2.2 2.8 2.2 
			 1997–98 2.6 2.2 2.7 2.3 
			 1998–99 2.4 2.1 2.7 2.4 
			 1999–2000 2.0 1.9 2.6 2.3 
			 2000–01 1.6 1.6 2.5 2.2 
			 2001–02 1.2 1.5 2.3 2.3 
			 2002–03 1.0 1.2 2.3 2.3 
			 2003–04 0.9 1.1 2.0 2.2 
		
	
	(22) Source
	Note:
	1. Table shows number of pensioners in millions.
	2. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years.
	3. FES figures are single calendar years from 1979–87, two combined calendar years from 1988–89 to 1990–91 are two financial years combined from 1991–92 to 1995–96.
	Source:
	Households Below Average Income 2003–04
	Further information showing the proportion and number of pensioners living in low income households, including annual levels, can be found in the publication "Households Below Average Income 1994–95 to 2003–04", a copy of which can be found in the House of Commons Library. This also reports statistics between 1979 and 1995–96, using the data source and income definitions previously employed for the 'Households Below Average Income' series.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Child Care

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Government have to involve private and voluntary sector day nurseries in (a) children's centres and (b) extended schools.

Beverley Hughes: The Government greatly values the contribution made by the thousands of private and voluntary nurseries, playgroups and pre-schools to early education and child care. We are determined that these sectors should continue to play a full part in the provision of early years education and child care as these services are expanded. The day nursery sector now cares for more children aged under five than any other type of child care with the vast majority of day nurseries in the private sector (85 per cent.). 24 per cent. of all day nurseries are in the 20 per cent. most disadvantaged areas and over 60 per cent. of all neighbourhood nurseries were successfully delivered by the private sector.
	Responsibility for the strategic planning of location of children's centres lies with local authorities. Stakeholders including private and voluntary day nurseries are key to the development of current and future children's centres. Providers are regularly invited to work with local authorities in the process of identifying current needs as well as developing plans for existing and future involvement. Local authorities are expected to take advantage of the expertise that many private and voluntary sector providers offer.
	Following the Children Act 2004, local authorities are working with key partners as part of children's trust arrangements to plan and commission services strategically. They are encouraged to work with private and other providers to assess current levels of child care availability as well as likely future requirements of the community. Many schools are expected to develop the core offer of extended services by working in partnership with existing local private or voluntary sector providers.

Deaf Pupils

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what research she has commissioned on the effects of matching teaching methods to the degree of deafness on the academic achievements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils;
	(2)  what research she has commissioned on academic achievements of deaf and hard of hearing pupils in (a) mainstream schools and (b) special schools and units.

Beverley Hughes: In 2003 the Department commissioned Cambridge and Manchester universities to carry out a joint study of teaching approaches for different types of special educational needs (SEN). The study found a large degree of overlap between different approaches—in essence, good teaching skills are much the same for all pupils, regardless of whether or not they have SEN, or the type of SEN.
	That study did not include a detailed assessment of the effectiveness of different specialised approaches in teaching children with hearing impairment. We are considering what further work might be undertaken in that area.
	From 2004 the Department has—as part of the Annual School Census—collected information on the type of Special Educational Need of individual pupils. This enables us to monitor the progress of pupils with different types of SEN, including those with hearing impairments, in various settings.
	As with other categories of special need, it is important that parents of children with hearing impairment feel supported. The Department's Early Support Programme has published an information booklet for parents on hearing impairment. The Programme has also produced a monitoring protocol for deaf babies and children. This is designed to help families and professionals document the progress of children in the first three years or so after deafness has been identified.

Extended Schools

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will require extended schools to make facilities available to supplementary schools in their community free of charge upon request; and if she will make a statement.

Beverley Hughes: My Department recognises the contribution, over a great number of years, that many communities make towards the education of our children, particularly those from minority ethnic backgrounds, through supplementary school initiatives.
	We encourage mainstream and supplementary schools to work together to share experiences, expertise and resources. There are many positive examples of collaboration, including schools that make their facilities available free of charge or for a 'peppercorn' rent.
	The Department also encourages schools to use funding received through the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant to support the development of partnerships with supplementary schools.
	We want all schools to develop a core offer of extended services by 2010, to include child care, study support, parenting support, family and adult learning and community use of school premises, all of which can clearly link with the supplementary schools agenda. It will be for schools, working with key partners and in consultation with other key stakeholders, including parents and local communities, to decide what services they should offer. This will be based on a range of factors including the school's capacity to offer services; the need for particular services; and what already exists in the local community. From 2005–06 all local authorities are receiving funding to support the development of extended services in their schools.

Looked-after Children

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what support her Department will provide to local authorities to support them in their duty under the Children Act 2004 to promote the educational achievement of looked-after children.

Maria Eagle: The Department is publicly consulting on statutory guidance which sets out what local authorities need to do to fulfil their duty to promote the educational achievement of looked-after children. We are also continuing to fund our 10 regional education protects networks to play a key role in sharing and disseminating good practice as local authorities implement the statutory guidance. In addition to mainstream funding for children's services, since 2003–04 we have provided local authorities with £42 million each year through the vulnerable children grant in order to improve access to education for vulnerable children, including looked-after children.

Mobile Phones (Children)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what guidance has been issued by her Department to schools in relation to mobile phone use by children.

Jacqui Smith: When the original report of the Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP)—known as the Stewart Report—was published in 2000 we informed all schools that it was available. Schools were also told that the Department of Health leaflet 'Mobile Phones and Health' was available, and we drew their attention to the paragraphs relating to children and young people under 16. Our guidance on Teachernet states that schools, in drawing up health and safety policies, may wish to take into account advice from the UK chief medical officers that where children and young people do use mobile phones, they should be encouraged to:
	(a) use mobile phones for essential purposes only;
	(b) keep all calls short because talking for long periods prolongs exposure to radiation.

Psychopathic Tendencies (Children)

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has conducted into children with early psychopathic tendencies and their predisposition to antisocial behaviour.

Liam Byrne: I have been asked to reply.
	The Department, the Home Office and the Medical Research Council have jointly funded a large-scale research study of twins looking at the aetiology and developmental pathways of psychopathic tendencies in children.
	This research found that in children with psychopathic tendencies, antisocial behaviour appeared to be strongly inherited. In contrast, the antisocial behaviour of children who did not have psychopathic tendencies was mainly influenced by environmental factors. These findings suggest that psychopathic tendencies may have a large heritable component. However, environmental factors are still important and early intervention may ameliorate the impact of these traits in later life.
	The Department has also produced an expert paper entitled "Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD): Children and Adolescents" which explores the scope for preventing ASPD by intervening in adolescence. This can be found on the website of the National Forensic Mental Health Research and Development Programme at www.nfmhp.org.uk.
	The following associated research is currently being undertaken:
	An evaluation of a pilot intervention (aimed at children and parents) for hard to reach children with conduct disorder.
	A longitudinal study of children given the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder to identify the prevalence of, and clinical, genetic and environmental risk factors for ASPD in adolescence.
	A review of case files from the young abusers project to explore the links between juvenile sexual offending and severe personality disorder.

Registered Foster Carers

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made in identifying and resolving collection difficulties to enable the Government to work towards the collection of data relating to the number of registered foster carers.

Maria Eagle: holding answer 6 June 2005
	Work to identify and resolve data collection difficulties is ongoing. It is planned to undertake fieldwork involving a sample of 10 local authorities in order to explore fully the range of relevant issues, to enable the development of an informative and workable data collection process. This fieldwork is expected to be completed by the end of 2005.

Schools (Hertfordshire)

Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what measures she will take to assist parents who fail to get their children into any of their chosen schools in Hertfordshire; and if she will make a statement.

Jacqui Smith: Where a school is oversubscribed, it naturally follows that not every parent will be able to have their preference met. Parents who fail to secure a place at any of their preferred schools will be offered an alternative place; usually the nearest school to their home with places available. Parents should be able to make informed decisions on the likelihood of being able to secure a place at their preferred school and all local authorities already publish information for parents to help them do so. However, we would expect local authorities to continue looking at ways in which parents could be better informed.

Sue Blackwell

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether she has met Sue Blackwell of Birmingham university in an official capacity.

Maria Eagle: I have not met with Sue Blackwell of Birmingham university in an official capacity.

Sure Start

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding her Department is providing for the National SureStart Month 2005.

Beverley Hughes: The Department is contributing up to £366,386 towards National SureStart Month 2005. This figure includes: website development and maintenance, media and activities telephone helpline to support practitioners in their planning, design, print and distribution of all materials, media and promotional work, launch event and research.